Category: Memories and Nostalgia

In Memoriam — July 1–September 30, 2020

Winter Carnival began at Michigan Tech in 1922 and has been organized by Blue Key Honor Society since 1934.

With nearly 100 years of history, our students have built an amazing tradition that carries on.

The most recognizable aspect of Carnival is the building of snow statues around campus and community.

What are some of your favorite memories of Winter Carnival? What statues did you help build? Leave us a comment below!

Visit the Winter Carnival website for details and some of the history behind the event.

June 1, 2020 – September 30, 2020

A thread on Facebook allowed Michigan Tech Alumni to share nuggets of wisdom acquired in the Copper Country. Below are some of those responses. Add yours in the comments below!

Nerds rule … Numbers don’t lie … “Because research has proven it” is an acceptable answer … People with toolboxes have a lot of acquaintances … Make friends with the people with the keys … Euchre is an art form … Invest in quality jumper cables. 
—Jerry Myers

Snowbanks at the end of your driveway somehow become magnetic, and will suck cars into them … Hiking boots are always in fashion. So is flannel … It is possible to walk uphill, both ways, to school.
—Carla Martinek

Brooms are meant to be clipped, taped, and used on ice.
—Rebecca Miner

F=MA … Physics is fun … You can’t push a rope.
—Brian Hobbs

Chemistry says if you soak the rope and freeze it, you can push it just fine.
—James Learman

Keep a snow shovel in the car at all times.
—Megan Kreiger

“It depends” is a legitimate answer for many engineering questions (courtesy of Jim De Clerck).
—Ross Hogan

Anyone with a Michigan Tech sticker on their car is a friend I have not yet met … Pizza and a beer is always an acceptable dinner choice … Chili is good over rice.
—Caryn Turrel

Taco Bell tastes better when you drive 100 miles for it.
—David Wressell

“Pank” is a real word.
—Jim Desrochers

Floormats make great traction aid devices … Always supervise friends “borrowing” your garage and insist on the use of jackstands.
—Alicia Steele

Cafeteria trays are actually sleds.
—Robin Book

When shoveling, throw snow back as far as you can in the beginning of the season.
—Tanya Bedore

Michigan Tech Dining Services uses the following recipe for making Cornish Pasties. What is your recipe or variation that you like? Share in the comments below!

Pastry Ingredients:

• 4 cups cold all-purpose flour (cold)
• 1 tablespoon kosher salt
• 8 ounces Crisco (cold)
• 1 cup ice cold water

Filling Ingredients:

• 1 # raw skirt steak, diced
• 2 cups peeled, diced, red potatoes
• 2 cups diced yellow onions
• 2 cups shredded rutabaga
• 2 ¼ teaspoons kosher salt
• 1 ¾ teaspoons black pepper
• 4 knobs butter

Egg Wash:

• 1 egg with a little water added, beaten well

Instructions:

1.       In a chilled bowl, thoroughly combine flour and salt. Once combined, gently rub the Crisco onto the flower to form large flasks for a flaky crust.

2.       Add water and mix until the dough just comes together. Form dough into 4 disks, individually wrap in plastic wrap, and refrigerate until set.

3.       To make the pasty filling combine the onion, potatoes, and rutabaga in a bowl. Mix in the salt and pepper.

4.       On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough into 4, 10” disks.

5.       Place ¼ of the filling mixture near the top of each 10” pastry round. Top with beef, place a knob of butter on the beef, and then add a pinch of flour and salt and pepper on top.

6.       Wet edge of pastry with a little water. Fold to seal. Crimp edges with a tool or fork, brush each pastry with egg wash, and bake 45-50 minutes at 400﮿F. 

Thomas F. Hruby, 93, a longtime Houghton resident, died on Tuesday, June 30, 2020, at Gardenview Assisted Living and Memory Care. He was born July, 13, 1926, in Cleveland, Ohio, a son of the late Alois and Lillian (Vevra) Hruby.

Tom was a WWII veteran of the United States Merchant Marines serving from 1944-46, completing numerous trans-Pacific voyages.

Following his discharge, Tom earned a Bachelor’s degree in Mining Engineering from the Michigan College of Mining and Technology (Michigan Tech). His early post-college years were spent in Cleveland and Detroit as writer and editor for several industry publications.

Tom returned to Houghton and Michigan Tech in the late 1950’s-early 60’s and in his near 40 year tenure at the university held successively responsible positions in external and alumni relations.

Tom was a longtime and active member of St. Ignatius Loyola Parish of Hoighton, where he served as an usher and Eucharistic Minister for shut-ins. Tom was all about family. He volunteered for many of the parish’s special programs for communities of need in Houghton. He was very kind and generous to his church families in need, especially during the holidays often opening his home to folks. Although Tom wished to keep his donations to others anonymous, they were well appreciated.

Tom loved sailing on the blue waters and in the challenging winds of Lake Michigan, and reveled in the cross country skiing afforded by the Upper Peninsula’s long winters. Necessarily giving up sailing and skiing in his later years, he was a daily walker.

Tom is survived by his sister, Jane Hruby Hanlon and her husband Robert; as well as nine nieces and nephews. Besides his parents, he was also preceded in death by brothers, Louis and Joseph; and a sister, Mary Louise.

A Memorial Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at 10 a.m. on Thursday, July 9, 2020, at St. Ignatious Loyola Parish in Houghton, with Fr. John Martignon as celebrant. Arrangements are being handled by the Jukuri-Antila Funeral Home of Hancock, Antila Funeral Service, Inc. Online condolences may be expressed to the family at antilafuneral.com.

Raymond William Kauppila, 91, most recently of 1600 Mill Creek Court, Marquette, passed away on Sunday, June 14, 2020, while in the loving care of family and the Lake Superior Life Care & Hospice. He was formerly of 424 W. Ridge St., Marquette; and longtime Hancock resident.

Raymond was born in Iron Mountain, on February 17, 1929, son of the late Ida H. (Kuja) and Swan W. Kauppila.

Ray was a graduate of the Eben High School, Class of 1946. Ray Kauppila earned bachelor degrees in both Mechanical Engineering and Mathematics from the University of Michigan in 1951. He was first employed by Standard Oil in Whiting, Indiana, from 1951-1955 and then at Cliffs Dow in Marquette from 1955-1957. Ray then came to Tech as a teacher in 1957 and received an M.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Michigan Tech in 1960. He left Michigan Tech briefly to earn his Ph.D. from the University of Michigan in 1968.

Kauppila served Michigan Tech as a teacher and researcher from 1957 until his retirement in 1988, other than a brief stint with P & H Crane in Escanaba from 1979-1980. He came to Tech after working in the industry for several years, bringing to the design curriculum an invaluable background, steeped in the realities of industrial design, yet firmly based on a foundation of mathematical and engineering science. His inquiring mind and his uncompromising quest for excellence left its mark on a generation of design students in the Mechanical Engineering Department. Few were unaffected by his intensity in the classroom and his insights in the design laboratory.

While at Michigan Tech he served a stint as chief engineer at the Keweenaw Research Center and maintained strong ties with the mining industry through his pioneering work in roof bolting. He was instrumental in the implementation of what is now called the Computer Aided Engineering Laboratory, and was a lead designer of the BAJA automobiles at Tech. Ray was never one to rest and after “retirement” worked as a consulting engineer at U.P. Fabricating from 1997-2012 and had also taught at NMU from 1991-1992.

He was a member of the Independent Apostolic Lutheran Church in Negaunee. Ray served on the Board of Review in Hancock, was a board member at AMCAB and had served numerous other boards and provided engineering expertise for many organizations, along with being a patent holder and enjoyed machine design.

Raymond is survived by three daughters, Susan (Gregory) Bovid of Midland, Audrey (William) Johnson of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Kandace (Tim) Reckinger, of Hartland, Wisconsin; a son, Rick (Pam) Kauppila of Negaunee; two brothers, Rolland W. (Linda) Kauppila of Dayton, Ohio and Rodney W. (Barbara) Kauppila of Rudyard; nine grandchildren, Adam (Britta) Kauppila, Janel Kauppila, Christopher (Karen) Bovid, Nicholas (Kristen) Bovid, Stanley (Jami) Bovid, Elena Davis, Jennifer (Jonathan) Walter, Lauren (William) Crowder and Aaron Reckinger; 13 great-great grandchildren; numerous nieces, nephews, cousins and a host of brothers and sisters in faith.

Ray was preceded in death by his wife, whom shared 65 years of marriage with, Irene E. (Besonen) Kauppila on Sept 24, 2017, and a brother, Wallace S. Kauppila who died in his childhood.

Graveside funeral services will be held at the Trout Creek Cemetery at 1 p.m. on Saturday, June 20, 2020 with Mike Peterson officiating.

Pallbearers will be Stan, Nick and Chris Bovid, Adam Kauppila., Aaron Reckinger and John Kauppila.

Ray’s obituary may also be viewed at bjorkandzhulkie.com where relatives and friends may leave a note of remembrance.

By Emily Riippa | University Archives and Copper Country Historical Collections

April brings with it April Fool’s Day pranks, but Michigan Tech students have been known to get up to some mischief all year round. In June 1951, the men of Douglass Houghton Hall drove resident Guenther Frankenstein’s Jeep up the stairs of their dormitory and into the hallway. Although the guys thought the prank was a riot, Frankenstein recalled that the college administration wasn’t laughing and wanted to expel him. They eventually settled for probation.

The next year, fourteen Tech students–also residents of DHH–spent the night in jail for a risque joke that maybe wouldn’t fall into the category of “crazy smart”: along with more than fifty of their peers, they besieged the student dormitory at the St. Joseph School of Nursing in Hancock, hoping to come away with lingerie. Standing outside the school’s Ryan Hall, they shouted their demands for underwear to the young women residing within. Some even wandered into the furnace room before police arrived and arrested members of the group for their disorderly conduct. Eventually, a judge ordered that all charges against the men be dropped.

We’ve heard rumors about other pranks that have taken place on Tech’s campus over the years, including some involving tweaks to computer programs on punch cards, but the files of the archives are remarkably bare. Do these tales bring back memories of your own college escapades, whether they took place five years ago or fifty? We’d love to hear your stories!

By Emily Riippa | University Archives and Copper Country Historical Collections

Huskies of yesterday and today will often mention “the ratio,” referring to the disproportionate number of male students compared to their female counterparts. According to the most recent statistics published by Undergraduate Admissions, women constitute some 28.2 percent of the Michigan Tech student body. This number may seem small, but it disguises a mighty tradition of accomplishment, innovation, and trailblazing. In honor of Women’s History Month, let’s take a whirlwind tour through how the lives of women at Tech have looked and changed over the years. Unfortunately, in such a small space as this, we can never do true justice to their stories!

Just four years after the Michigan Mining School was founded, at a time when coeducation was uncommon, the first women enrolled. Both Margaret McElhinney and Mary Louise Bunce taught in the public schools of Houghton, and in 1889 they became students themselves again, taking classes in chemistry and geology on a part-time basis. The number of women enrolled  remained small for many years, but their presence, once established, persisted. In 1933, Margaret Holley broke new ground for female Huskies by becoming the first woman to earn a bachelor’s degree from what was then called the Michigan College of Mining and Technology. Just a year later, she followed up her degree in general science with one in chemistry, then proceeded to a master’s program in general science again. So significant were Holley’s steps at Tech that she later served as a trustee and, under her married name of Margaret H. Chapman, helped to start a long-running scholarship fund in her name to support women’s education at Tech.

The year that Margaret Holley finished her first bachelor’s degree, Tech enrolled a record-breaking number of fourteen “co-eds,” the nickname given to female students at the time. World War II changed not only the number of women at Tech but also the nature of what the college permitted them to study. Historically, women had been admitted to programs in science and some facets of engineering; Ilmi Watia, for example, received a civil engineering degree in 1938. Tech discouraged women from enrolling in certain mining engineering courses and highly technical programs. With young men away at war in vast numbers, however, the United States and Tech both found a need for women to step into roles that they had not otherwise filled. In 1943, the college promoted a new war training program for women that started to break down some of these barriers. The courses were intended for “all young women who wish to serve their country in this emergency by training themselves for essential jobs that carry pay commensurate with their vital importance,” according to a marketing brochure. Women completing the program–whose length varied from eight weeks to a year, depending on the course of study chosen–could immediately enter government or industrial work in roles ranging from the more traditional secretary to engineering technician, full professional practitioner (if they already had degrees in other subjects), and airplane ferry pilot. All courses carried college credit, and women who did not find the curricula of the war training programs to their fancy were encouraged to pursue the full range of coursework at MCMT, including technical fields.

From there, slowly and steadily, the population of Tech women continued to grow and blaze trails. In 1945, a women’s dorm opened in the house formerly occupied by Kappa Delta Psi. In the years that followed, the former residence of the Fred Smith family was converted to women’s housing, and, at various times, female students also resided in houses known by the names of Pryor and Robinson. The first woman to earn a degree from Tech in metallurgical and materials engineering graduated in 1947; the first female mechanical engineer at the college finished her program in 1948. By 1952, the college had begun efforts to recruit women in earnest, publishing pamphlets explaining the scientific and mathematical careers open to them with a degree from Tech. Women answered the call and enrolled in many courses of study, including forestry, biological sciences, and all varieties of engineering. By 1968, 8.5 percent of Michigan Tech students were female, rendering the college officially coeducational by the metrics of the time. That year, Co-Ed Hall (now known as McNair) opened to alleviate a shortage of on-campus housing for women. A few years prior, Wadsworth Hall had begun to offer a few spaces to female students. Douglass Houghton Hall, on the other hand, remained all-male until 1973.

Women’s involvement and visibility on campus continued to grow through the remainder of the 20th century. In the 1970s, for example, the first female cadets joined the Air Force ROTC program, and the first national sorority and women’s teams in nordic and alpine skiing came to campus. From 1975 to 1982, Michigan Tech’s nursing program graduated nearly 300 hundred women, representing a larger proportion of female enrollment than perhaps any other degree program on campus. Groups like Woman Sphere and Tech Women’s Connection formed to advocate for women’s issues and initiated important dialogues in the Michigan Tech community. Meanwhile, in 1993, a team of Michigan Tech women won the Intercollegiate Mining Competition, demonstrating both their prowess at mining techniques and the college’s historic roots. How appropriate for Michigan Tech women to literally break ground.

In 1969, Dean Harold Meese wrote to the women of Tech that, in spite of being vastly outnumbered by men on campus, “you traditionally have more than overcome these odds academically by earning better grade point averages. This, I feel, is due to your above average intelligence and your strong desire to become a well educated person and to find a meaningful way of life.” Whether they joined the Husky family in 1889, 1959, 1999, or 2019, women at Michigan Tech have always exemplified a passion for knowledge and a dedication to leaving their mark on the world. They are making history, one day at a time.