At the University’s quarter centennial in June 1916, alumnae processed through the quads following a luncheon at the brand-new women’s gymnasium and social center, Ida Noyes Hall. Of the event, which was attended by more than 800 women, the Magazine reported, “No one has a right to call that luncheon disorderly, but it was distinctly enthusiastic.” The women sported parasols, boas, and balloons provided for the occasion at Ida Noyes, while male alumni donned paper hats and rosettes at Bartlett gymnasium.

UChicago Photographic Archive, apf3-01869, Hanna Holborn Gray Special Collections Research Center, University of Chicago Library

J. Kyle Anderson, SB’28, namesake of today’s varsity baseball field, was the team’s head coach from 1935 to 1971. After playing baseball and football at UChicago, Anderson spent a year with the Pittsburgh Pirates—including six weeks in the majors—before returning to UChicago to coach.

Photography by Lewellyn Studio; UChicago Photographic Archive, apf1-00232, Hanna Holborn Gray Special Collections Research Center, University of Chicago Library

Forget retinol, revisiting your alma mater is the real secret to staying young! We sent three alumni, each from a different generation, to sit in on a Core course and share their thoughts. Read what they have to say about the classes they took years ago.

New music is a UChicago tradition. Read about how UChicagoans have been making and sharing contemporary music since the 1960s: https://mag.uchicago.edu/arts-humanities/something-new

On our Spring/24 cover: A detail from the coffin of Egyptian army commander and scribe Ipi-Ha-Ishetef. The eyes were believed to allow the deceased’s soul to see the rising sun. Read about ancient color and the conservation of the coffin at the Institute for the Study of Ancient Cultures.

What do we really know about how ancient peoples understood and used color in their art, architecture, and clothing? And how do conservators analyze and treat ancient pigments? We sat in on a class at the Institute for the Study of Ancient Cultures to find out.

Our Spring/24 issue is online now! Meet the new dean of the College, prep for the summer Olympics with John J. MacAloon, AM’74, PhD’80, sit in on two new Div School classes, and much more.

Thermodynamicist Sandra Greer, SM’68, PhD’69, author of Chemistry for Cooks: An Introduction to the Science of Cooking (MIT Press, 2023), shares her tips for cooking with carbs and her mother’s recipe for classic Southern collard greens. Try them with ham biscuits and bourbon: https://mag.uchicago.edu/science-medicine/kitchen-chemistry

Photo: Greer (left), as an undergraduate at Furman University (Special Collections and Archives, James B. Duke Library, Furman University)

Scav Hunt at UChicago: Seeking Fun, Finding Tradition

Quirky, at times impossible, yet always fun, Scavenger Hunt—or Scav—has set UChicago students dashing on multiday searches for eclectic lists of miscellany since 1987. Simultaneously a break from coursework and a thinly veiled learning exercise, Scav has become an enjoyable rite of spring for undergraduates, as well as some graduates and alumni.

Beyond the dorms, Scav unifies the student body in a way that sports teams build school-specific spirit at some colleges. Students recognize Scav as uniquely UChicago and players back the game with fierce intensity and school pride.

For nearly four decades, Scavenger Hunt has evolved, adapted with technology, and garnered local, national, and international press, yet throughout time, it has retained its characteristic spirit of humor, playful rigor, and inclusion that reflects core UChicago values and has become an endearing student tradition.

This exhibition features materials donated to the University of Chicago Archive and items on loan from the Scavenger Hunt’s founding members, former judges, past players, and current teams. Notable items include the first Scavenger Hunt list and items used in the 1999 creation of a breeder reactor, along with an array of t-shirts, photographs, and judges’ notes that document the lengths Scavvies will go to in search of fun and to be part of a beloved UChicago tradition.

Not in Chicago? Check out the web exhibit!

Shower firecrackers, former Elvis haunts, O-mances, and kitchenless halls—read alumni tales of defunct dorms.

“Sun Ra always say his music as space music,” says Crown Family School associate professor William Sites. Read about Sun Ra’s application to have his music included on NASA’s Golden Record.

Sun Ra, NASA application. Alton Abraham Collection of Sun Ra [Box 13, Folder 7], Hanna Holborn Gray Special Collections Research Center, University of Chicago Library

As part of the Summer Shakespeare Festival in August 2004, University Theater staged The Winter’s Tale in Hutchinson Courtyard. Susanna Gellert, AB’99, currently lecturer in directing at Yale, directed this production of one of Shakespeare’s “problem plays.”

Photography by Amber Lee Mason, AB’03

Where were you during the 2017 solar eclipse? Read UChicago faculty reactions to the event, from Inquiry, the Physical Sciences Division alumni publication.

As we gear up for today’s solar eclipse, we’re looking back at preparations for the 2017 eclipse. Why you should have gotten protective eyewear and made travel plans earlier, from Inquiry, the Physical Sciences Division alumni publication.

Photography by Jean Lachat

Jane E. Buikstra, AM’69, PhD’72 (left), UChicago professor of anthropology from 1986 to 1995, works with visiting student Danielle Parks at a Middle Archaic (6000–2500 BC) floodplain cemetery north of Eldred, IL, in 1987. 

Photography by Keith Swinden, UChicago Photographic Archive, apf1-09384, University of Chicago Library

In the Smart Museum of Art, an alumnus at the 1978 reunion views John, a painting by Chuck Close of the artist John Roy.

Photography by Donald Rocker, UChicago Photographic Archive, apf3-02146, Hanna Holborn Gray Special Collections Research Center, University of Chicago Library

What better way to celebrate Women's History Month than announcing the opening of the records of the University of Chicago's first woman president? The presidential administration records of Hanna Holborn Gray are now available for research.

Photo credit: Hanna Holborn Gray in 1981 during her term as President of the University of Chicago. University of Chicago Photographic Archive, [apf1-06504], Hanna Holborn Gray Special Collections Research Center, University of Chicago Library.