Viewpoint

Celebration brought out best in 'U'

Students screamed from the top steps of the president's house. They stood on top of desks in the Law Library. They cheered from the top of planters, garbage cans and cars on South University. They screamed "Go Blue" at the top of their lungs.

They were on top of the world.

One student proclaimed Saturday night as "the most memorable day of my college years" while another said he'd "never been prouder."

The victory celebration Saturday evening went beyond the usual post-game excitement. Streets flowed with maize and blue. And it didn't take long until throngs of euphoric fans settled into one location. With the magnetism reminiscent of a more idealistic era, fans surged toward the residence of University President Lee Bollinger to pat him on the back and squeeze his shoulders.

They roared for several deafening minutes as he brandished a single rose high overhead and declared, "This is the best university in the world." The 12th University president opened his arms - and the doors of his house - so the crowd of about 1,000 could go inside.

But the fans never got out of hand. Sure, they screamed in the stuffy Law Library and blocked traffic on South University. The white carpet in the president's house is a little gray and a few hard-core studiers might have been bothered by the noise, but there was no harm done in Ann Arbor from the "riots."

The scene was jubilant, hopeful and well-behaved. Indeed, the atmosphere Saturday evening stood in contrast to celebrations at other large universities. No couches burned, as they did at Michigan State University this past September when the school's football team beat Western Michigan. Inside the fraternity-party scene of the president's house, beers were spilled - and cleaned up with shirts. Cigarettes were extinguished outside the front door.

Sure, there were those who went into his bedroom or stole Bass beer from his fridge, but they also filed out when Jean Magnaro asked them to leave. Here at Michigan, students knew to put the excitement into perspective. Nobody wanted to trash the house. Fans only wanted to squeeze inside to add a postscript to the historic game by signing the president's guestbook.

The one student who "puked" on the president's lawn saw the moment as a chance to hug the president and say "it's all better because I puked with the president." Police stood nearby in case the celebration got out of hand - but no interference was needed.

Instead, everyone just wanted to enjoy the moment. In a university of thousands, it can be hard to feel a sense of unity. But as the crowd on one side of the library shouted "Go" and the other side shouted "Blue," the cheers seemed louder than any during recent years at Michigan Stadium.

There could have been 100 people in the library. Perhaps 1,000. It doesn't really matter, because it seemed like the entire student body was there. From the beginning celebration on South University, through the president's house, into the Law Quad and onto the steps of the Union, it was the way Michigan is supposed to be. It's how you imagine Ann Arbor when you're a little kid and you see the students cheering on TV. It's how you imagine the students would react after a big win.

"Look at this school spirit," one student said, pointing to the screaming fans on the steps of the Michigan Union. "Can you say anything more?"

First-year students and seniors alike chanted about going to Pasadena and about being the best in the land. They carried roses, cow bells and large Michigan flags. Students rushed out of the bars - not into them - to celebrate together. They ran to the one place that symbolizes the entire university - the president's house.

Their joy unabated, their wonder and energy striking - the student response went beyond what had happened at a football game in Happy Valley just moments before.

They were all University students - they were all on top of the world. The whole event came and went in less than an hour, but as students began to stream out from the same house they had strained to get into, their grins were as wide as Angell Hall's pillars.

Parts of Bollinger's house will have to be cleaned, but the words titling the Nov. 8 page in his guestbook - "The Destruction of Penn State" -and the flood of names now penned on that page will remind the University of this occasion for years to come.

It was about more than just winning a game. It was about maize-and-blue fans screaming together: "It's great ... to be ... a Mich-i-gan Wolverine."

And it is.

11-10-97