This piece of folklore has a great deal of truth in it. After the end of each quarter, the college unit cumulative GPA's would be posted in ranked order (top to bottom) in a display case on the first floor of the Union Building. I made a point to check these stat's on a regular basis (though I'm not certain I checked each and every quarter). With the exception of one quarter in which JMC was number 2, I recall the College being number 1 (solely or in a tie) every time I checked.

Naturally, I cannot vouch for quarters prior to Fall 1969 or later than Spring 1973.

I wouldn't be surprised to learn that this tale is predominantly factual. The notion of superlative academic achievement runs through the entire history of JMC. For example:

• Robert Hawkins mentions the University's incredulity at a majority of JMC's first class qualifying for Phi Beta Kappa in his Reminiscence.

• The Spring 1973 Graduating Seniors List shows 30.8% of the graduating class qualifying for 'High Honor' - 6 times the University's target percentage of 5% of the student population.

I never had any basis for evaluating this claim. For one thing, I never found out where it originated. I never heard the claim qualified (e.g., with respect to one or another year), so it would appear the cited condition was purportedly persistent (at least through the period of my JMC tenure).

Perhaps most confusing was the allusion to 'Merit Scholars'. In the course of its expansion into a megaversity, MSU made a point to award more Merit Scholarships than any other American university. As a result, there was a notably high number of 'Merit Scholars' attending MSU during that period (of which I was one). However, the term 'Merit Scholar' can have two interpretations. The first is anyone who placed onto the National Merit Scholar list after taking the Qualifying Exams in his / her junior year of high school. The second interpretation is someone who was actually awarded a Merit Scholarship (sponsored or otherwise). It was never clear to me which interpretation was the one supposedly 'in play' when making this claim.

The student was Jeffrey Glenn Miller, who'd just transferred to KSU from MSU in January 1970.

Following the Kent State massacre in 1970, I'd heard/seen Miller referred to as a Snyder Phillips resident and even as a JMC student. Based on what detailed info can be located, it appears Jeffrey originally enrolled in MSU in 1967, and that his initial experience was in the MSU fraternity community. Accounts seem to agree that he became disenchanted with frat life and moved out into the University at large. The more detailed accounts (including that of his mother and brother) agree that this move was concomitant with his growing political activism (e.g., against the Vietnam War). All detailed accounts seem to agree he transferred to KSU in January 1970 (and this newness at Kent State seems to be the source of the common misattribution of his being a 'freshman' at the time of his death).

Was Jeffrey Miller a Sny-Phi resident, and was he a JMC student?

- Randy Whitaker (Editor: JMC '74)

"Mark it as a verity. He was a friend, and we shared a "communications" class (which was hosted by Roger Stimson, JMC's resident psychologist, and, in fact, was an early version of a "sensitivity group") in the Spring Term of 1969."

- William (Bill) McGarvey

"I knew Jeff, but only slightly. He did live in Snyder, as I recall. He was a friend of my room-mate Greg "Ozymandias" Turner... He served as Best Man when Oz was married over Xmas break,'69, in a ceremony in Long Island."

There is, however, a more tangible basis for such a claim. At least during the first decade of the College's existence, it is a fact that female JMC students outnumbered their male Morrillite peers by as much as a 3-to-1 margin. This relative imbalance led to a conscious attempt to manipulate enrollments in the opposite direction by 1969 (cf. Dean Rohman's comments on enrollment in the Fall 1969 Sheet issue here on this Website).

On the other hand, there were factors which ameliorated Sny-Phi's prospects as a 'hunting ground' for women. For one thing, there were non-JMC men living on the Snyder side of the dorm complex. In other words, although there was a definite female majority among JMC students per se, there was a rough parity between the numbers of men and women living in the Snyder Phillips complex overall. Beyond that, the close-knit nature of the JMC community made some people see their other-gendered peers more as siblings than potential lovemates. The following quote comes from the JMC 10th Anniversary tabloid (April, 1975):

"It's kind of hard for me to go out with guys who live in my dorm. Not everyone feels this way, but I feel it's like going out with someone in the family. I don't want to go out with someone I see everyday, at the mailboxes, in the cafeteria, on the stairs. I went out fall term with a guy from Phillips, and it felt strange."

It's a wonderful tale of baldfaced greed and even more baldfaced bravado (in confronting the CIA of the time), but the alleged extremity of Hannah's mischief which gives the story its edge is probably not true.

It is true that the MSU International Center (site of the MSU Bookstore) was constructed during the period when MSU was conducting its Vietnam Advisory Project on behalf of the federal government (most notably the CIA). However, there were millions of dollars flowing through MSU during the time of the Project, some of which were explicitly targeted for administrative overhead costs.

In an article originally appearing in Ramparts, the funding for the International Center is explained as follows:

"A shiny new building on campus houses MSU's Center for International Programs -- an edifice built, incidentally, with funds from the administrative allowance on the seven-year Vietnam contract."

The University on the Make, Ramparts, April 1966:
 
http://www.cia-on-campus.org/msu.edu/msu.html

The original inquiry on the JMC Yahoo Groups forum:

I remember being told about a very innovative JMC Field of Concentration back in my early days in JMC (ca. 1969 - 1971). However, since this was only known through 'hearsay', I was wondering if anyone else could confirm / deny the story.

Here's how it goes.....

I'm not sure who the JMC student involved might have been. I vaguely recall a fair-haired male upperclassman (i.e., someone who would have graduated circa 1970 - 1972) who lived on the third floor of Snyder being cited as the one.

According to the tale, he had formulated a Field of Concentration on the theme of 'Sex' (or perhaps 'Sexuality' or 'Human Sexuality'). He allegedly assembled a course of study drawing on (e.g.) medical/biological classes, some sociology, some other social science stuff, and (I'm stretching the neurons here) something from Human / Family Ecology (i.e., Home Ec.) on families and sexuality. His FoC was linked to his Foreign Study, in which he spent a term in Copenhagen(?) examining the sex industry.

Does this ring any bells with anyone?

- Randy Whitaker (December 2002)

 Confirmation from someone wishing to remain anonymous:

 Message of December 24 2002:

This would be either my friend X or, more likely, and I'm pretty sure, his friend Y. Both were in our year and both were in PIPS. Both did a FoC on sexuality. Both also eventually came out as gay. So you could say in a way it was pre gay studies stuff.

 Message of January 2 2003:

X says the person you described was him - not Y as I'd thought. It is true.

 NOTE:

So is the bit about dealers openly advertising just hyperbole or an urban legend?

Well, kids... Not only is it true...

We've got PHOTOGRAPHIC PROOF!

EMAIL: EnolaGaia@aol.com