With this issue we're introducing a new department. "What we were up to in . . ." will spotlight a different year each issue. We're starting-arbitrarily-with a look back at 1987. Were you at Ithaca College then? Two current students, Christy Bianconi '01 and Heather Duncan '98, compiled some fun and interesting facts about what was going on in 1987, on campus and around the world. We hope you enjoy the short trip down memory lane.
  
 

In the headlines

  • First national conference on campus violence is held
  • "Baby M" case sets off the surrogate mother debate. IC grad Robert D. Arenstein '68 serves as cocounsel for her mother, Mary Beth Whitehead
  • First commercial for condoms to help prevent spread of AIDS is aired in San Francisco
  • Iran-contra trials begin
  • Crusade against apartheid in South Africa heats up
  • Savings and loan scandal rocks the banking industry
  • Andy Warhol, Rita Hayworth, Fred Astaire, and Jackie Gleason die
  • Black Monday: stock market crashes on October 19

At the podium on campus:

  • Dr. Ruth, sex expert
  • Jimmy Breslin, novelist and Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist
  • Former ambassador to Ecuador Samuel F. Hart on Reagan's Latin America policy
  • Cathleen Black of USA Today gives graduation speech

On the air:

  • U2's The Joshua Tree; Prince's (when he still had a name) Sign o' the Times; everything by R.E.M. is a hit

Test Your Memory

How much do you remember about 1987?

How much was tuition for the year at Ithaca College?

  1. $5,966
  2. $7,646
  3. $6,210
  4. $8,138

How many IC students made Who's Who in American Colleges and Universities?

  1. 20
  2. 30
  3. 25
  4. 40

What product was the target of a nationwide campus protest because of its company's funding of the Nicaraguan contras and employee policies?

  1. Folger's coffee
  2. Ben and Jerry's ice cream
  3. Coors beer
  4. Trix cereal

Which of the following performed in Muller Chapel in 1987?

  1. IC cast of the Rocky Horror Picture Show
  2. belly dancers, including Professor Katharyn Machan Aal
  3. Ernie and Bert from Sesame Street
  4. the Hells Angels

Clara Peller enjoyed a few moments of fame as:

  1. Walter Mondale's running mate
  2. The little old lady in the Wendy's commercials
  3. Sylvester Stallone's girlfriend
  4. The first woman to skateboard coast-to-coast

Answers are below

ON THE SCOREBOARD

The Harlem Wizards play the Bomber football team --- in basketball

Six of the nine Ithaca spring sports teams make the playoffs

Women's sports teams soar: gymnastics team wins second place in national finals; swim team wins state title and sets new records; track team takes second at state finals

 

At home

  • The class of '87 is the 92nd class to graduate from Ithaca; class size: 1,575
  • Phillips Hall is built, Egbert vastly renovated, the pub opens
  • IC begins divesting itself of South African stocks
  • Ithaca is reaccredited by the Middle States Association
  • Trustees approve building plans for new communications school building
  • Campus begins offering escort service around campus

 
 

Answers to "Test Your Memory" -- 1.C, 2.D, 3.C, 4.B, 5.B

 

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