Those were the days, my friends
Lowell Homburger, '67 BBA, International Business, was here in the early years. As news of our 50th celebrations spread, he contacted us to share the excitement of Northwood's brand new campus.
My first recollection of this new college in Midland, about which most people knew two things, were, it was the home of Dow Chemical and it had just opened its campus after being in Alma for several years, specifically since 1959. The Midland Campus was to supplement the Alma facility.
Realizing I better make up my mind as to where I wanted to attend college, I had pretty much settled on a more traditional university. Upon reading the information contained in a newspaper college guide about Northwood, my interest was piqued! I sent a letter to the school, and over the ensuing months, thanks to plenty of cooperative and encouraging dialogues with Charles Morrison, a former scout for the Pittsburgh Pirates and now the school's admission's director, I decided that Northwood would be "he school" for me. Its main attraction? Getting down to the business of what a student Those were the days, my friends wants to major in without all the "fluff" courses required at other colleges and universities. In other words, Northwood offered what I wanted…a chance to become educated about the world of business management without having to spend time taking courses such as geometry or zoology.
The story of its two young leaders, Arthur E. Turner and R. Gary Stauffer, were also very Horatio Alger-like (of which Dr. Turner was a recipient of said award) and that was impressive. Two people who took chances… even to the point of using his in-law's finances (Turner) to help cover financing. To me, that was the epitome of confidence!
I was sold on the school. My parents weren't. Questions such as, who knows about Northwood? What kind of stature does it have in the business community? And concerns such as "it's new and very small with a faculty that aren't all MA's and Ph.D.'s, social life, etc." were all discussed, but I decided that Northwood was worth a chance. At the end of a year, I could always transfer to a more established institution.
I'll never forget "moving in" day in September of 1963. The main road, which at that time entered the campus immediately after the railroad tracks, as opposed to the gatehouse complex there now, was all dirt and gravel. In fact, Midland's Main Street wasn't paved all the way to the campus. It, too, was a dirt road for almost three quarters of a mile to the campus entrance. There were no lights on the campus at night, although we saw some spindly metal objects, which looked as if they may be light posts (which master architect Alden Dow wanted to resemble trees) that were being installed. The day all of us moved in was humid, rainy, and foggy. The "main road" was turned into a mud bath with several parents' cars becoming mired in the dirt as they tried to find room to park.
At that time, Northwood's residence halls consisted of one wing for males and one wing fo. females. It was a long building with a couple of meeting points which served as student lounges. In fact, TVs weren't permitted in the rooms, so that's where we all did our viewing…first one in the lounge had the opportunity to "pick" the channel!
Jordan Hall wasn't completed on the top level, so all classes were held in the lower level which resembled a brightly lit basement with partitions. The "Village" apartments, which were to serve as a male dormitory, were at the very edge of campus near the entrance and they weren't finished yet. Therefore, we had the "pleasure" of having four fellows in each room, meaning with sharing suites, bathrooms accommodated eight people. It took some maneuvering and cooperation, but we made it work the three months it took for the Village to become completed.
The offices of Northwood were under the one wing which was Miner Hall and both Dr. Turner and Dr. Stauffer used trunk rooms as their "executive suites." There were some administration offices in Jordan Hall, but the centers of the administration's offices were located in the Miner Hall basement. That first year at Northwood gave me an insight into the operation of a college that I likely would not have had anywhere else. Our academic dean was a tall, spindly fellow by the name of W. Victor Bielinski. He was not the most gregarious and outgoing person as far as most students were concerned, but he was the captain of the academic ship and formulated a faculty that was about half career-experienced and half academic-experienced people.
The faculty gave students insights into education available nowhere else. Robert Price was the head of the advertising department. He had never taught before, but did he ever know the advertising business inside and out! I was fortunate to have learned about the free-enterprise system from one of the "experts" who knew what made it work, V. Orval Watts, famed for his well known book Free Markets or Famine. He was ably assisted by Mrs. Willo Anker, another economics instructor with impeccable teaching credentials. The faculty were one-of-a-kind professionals with backgrounds as diverse as the world of business can be.
I'll never forget an ethics class taught by Professor Gene Fernette who, in his spare time, had a dance band whose motto was "Your best bet yet is Gene Fernette!"
There was a young instructor on campus whom everybody advised, "you need to take this fellow's class. He's not much older than we are and he ROCKS!" His name: David Fry. Yep, "the" Dr. Fry whom just recently retired. Yes, I did take his class…he did "rock," and I'm still using concepts and ideas we learned to this very day in my business.
Drs. Turner and Stauffer were always letting students and faculty know about expansions in the school's educational and physical plants. They were absolute masters at forging relationships with people who could take advantage of Northwood graduates in their businesses, and, at the same time, support the college. It was obvious these two men cared about each and every student at that campus having a career. They also saw to it that Northwood would be successful by enlightening the business world as to what Northwood did to educate their students.
One of the most interesting faculty members I met was Professor Donald Burchard. Professor Burchard was 101% Texan…now how he got to Michigan, I don't know. Professor Burchard was the journalism instructor and it's an area I did well in high school, so I joined the staff of the Northwood student newspaper and became a member of Rho Omicron, a journalism fraternity on campus. Professor Burchard was an older instructor, had little time for unnecessary small talk and always "got right to the point." He possessed that Texan "swagger" which took some getting used to and when everybody was migrating to those new "IBM Selectrics," Burchard refused to change from his ancient manual Royal typewriter he had been using for 50 years. Always walking around wearing his Stetson, you could pick him out of any crowd. (I believe his beloved hat and typewriter are on display in the school's library, if memory serves me correctly). He was the consummate pro and gave his classes and Northwood's public relations image a real shot in the arm!
Due to my picture taking work for the student newspaper, I had an opportunity to witness the very first wedding on Northwood's campus. In January of 1964, Ed Silverman, Northwood's first cafeteria director was hired and brought his fiancee, Helene with him. They were both from Long Island, New York. Neither, by the way, knew how to drive. Ed had a Village apartment and for the sake of "propriety," Helene had a room in the girl's dorm for about a week or so when they arrived.
Since Ed was not familiar with Midland or Michigan, the Northwood "family" assisted his plans for their wedding and decided it would be held in his Village apartment home. One Monday evening, I was asked to go to the Village, where, upon entering was the lucky couple about to exchange their vows before a justice of the peace, with various Northwood administrators and faculty as the honored guests. One of my most cherished pictures is that of Drs. Turner and Stauffer, Bill Harkey (director of the Research Center), Ward Hodge (head of the English department), professor Dale Haywood and Northwood's football coach Lou Jullierat all singing "Here Comes the Bride" with much gusto. The women's dormitory housemother, Elizabeth Colenso, was the organist!
In the spring of 1964, some major announcements stated that changes were on the way. Some of them were new dormitories for both Miner and DuBois Halls, completing the quad design of each single wing; a new administration building; a new library building and the fact the Jordan Hall would be opening its top level. We also found out that the main road would be paved, a major achievement. Northwood forged its relationship with NADA and the program for its certification level would begin in the fall. These were quantum leaps which we all knew would have the effect of increasing student population and furthering the overall recognition of Northwood as a growing and successful school of higher education.
Forty-one years after my graduation, Northwood has left me with some indelible memories of the school. After my first year, I knew it would be a school that I wanted to attend for another year and upon hearing of Northwood being able to offer a four-year degree, I decided to stay the rest of those years. I am glad to see the institution of higher learning which Northwood Institute aspired to be in that heady, aggressive-growth, experiment-see-if-it-flies-days on the mid-60s has grown and prospered. I am proud to say that my alma mater is Northwood University. Perhaps the element of my educational experience which taught me the greatest life lesson that has endured throughout my career, which the "Northwood Experience" taught me, was the determination and foresight of leadership with a vision. Arthur Turner and R. Gary Stauffer were "more" than a couple of college administrators who delivered what they said they would to the college's board of control and students. Their dream of what the school is today was a product of two people who saw what the marketplace needed, decided to do it better than anybody else with a comparable program, making certain to recruit students who were also of the same philosophy. If you decided to go to Northwood when I was in high school, and I believe it's still true today, you wanted to get the tools you needed to stake your place in the business world without all the frills. You gained your educational experience from faculty of the same mindset and one could use the college's growth process as a model for their own business endeavors. I know. It's worked well for me since the day I graduated and I'm forever grateful to the forward thinkers who comprised the school's nucleus in those early days for setting the proper example of leadership and a mentality based on success as the objective.
Lowell Homburger has been in the radio broadcasting business for over 40 years, working as an announcer, marketing specialist, and station manager. He has owned a chain of radio stations serving markets such as Phoenix, Ariz., Jackson, Miss., and Saginaw/Bay City, Mich. A native of Bay City, Homburger and his wife Amy reside in Charlotte, NC with children Allison (college senior) and Aaron (8th grade) where he is a partner with Abernat, Roxben, & Boggs, a media acquisition consulting firm where he puts his Northwood educational experience to work "everyday."
