10 OregonStater.org OSU ATHLETICS L E T T E R S eryone else) at Gill Coliseum. [The Beavs won their third consecutive conference title that year.] Anyone who was at the 1982 commencement must remember how things got off to a shaky start. Someone had been standing at the podium, acting like she was an official part of the ceremony.Aftermore than 3,000 graduates and a full house were finally seated, she announced, “I have something very important to say. This building is going to fall down, and we must all leave immediately!” It was like yelling “Fire!” As a structural engineer, I looked for any signs of impending collapse, still in my seat. Quickly, President MacVicar nudged her away from the microphone and, cool as a cucumber, said, “Anyone who was at the UCLA game knows this building isn’t going to fall down.” This enabled the graduation to proceed without further interruption. Incredibly enough, about an hour or so later, I was on stage, handed my diploma and photographed shaking President MacVicar’s hand. —JAN STRIBULA, ’82 Thank you for an excellent article regarding dam removal on the Klamath and your recap of Gill Coliseum history. My first experience with the coliseum was on a field trip from Lebanon, Oregon, for my fourth-grade Oregon history studies, to Horner Museum.This would have been the mid-1950s — my first out-of-town field trip and my first museum. Memorable, and I still mourn the removal of the museum from the coliseum basement. Next, as a transfer student from U of O in 1964, I experienced the wonder of class registration in the coliseum’s athletic court. Registration at U of O still involved going from building to building all about campus, often taking two or three days. OSU’s registration was a revelation! I had transferred to OSU because I married one of your basketball players — he was on the junior varsity team. We were pretty close to penniless — he was not on a “ride” — so our summer jobs and what little our parents could provide allowed us to afford a $55-per-month apartment with no car, no television and no telephone. One basketball-game evening, we had an out-of-town visitor. My usual practice was to go to the coliseum early and sit in the stands waiting for things to get started. (ID checkers weren’t there yet.) This I did, and I gave my ID card to our visitor so she could get in free. Looking nothing like me, she was caught! My ID card was confiscated, and we both were ejected! I spent the rest of the school year without a student ID. —WARRENE (BEYMER) GILL, ’65 I arrived as a freshman at Oregon State in 1963. Not long after, I heard there were all-school tryouts for the Oregon State basketball team. Yes, in 1963 Slats Gill himself was still the coach, and there were still the Rooks, but I couldn’t stay away. As a not-particularly-good high school player, I knew I had no chance, but what the heck, I laced up my Chuck Taylor sneakers and walked onto the court. This very court was home to the Final Four team of 1962-63, and there I was standing midcourt — knowing I was soon to be excused, but I was there. This was Gill! I never missed a basketball game in those heady days. When the hated Ducks came to town, a pregame introduction consisted of an OSU student dressed in duck hunting gear wandering to center court with a shotgun. As he fired blanks, about a half dozen dead ducks came falling from the sky as his buddy, hiding on that catwalk, hurled the waterfowl earthward. It was hilarious, and the student body went wild. During my senior year, I met and began dating Sheryl Rosvall. On our first date, we went to Gill to enjoy a concert featuring Petula Clark. The following fall term, Sheryl was selected to be on the Homecoming Court.They had a pageant to choose the queen at Gill Coliseum. There was a big crowd, as Homecoming was a big deal in those days, complete with house signs, floats, the bonfire and, of course, the coronation. When it was over, I was the happiest guy in Oregon, as there in the center of Gill Coliseum, my girl was crowned Homecoming Queen. She has now been Sheryl Rosvall Van Fleet for 54 wonderful years. —BRYON VAN FLEET, ’68, M.S. ’72 A lovely young Leontyne Price sang “Black Is the Color of My True Love’s Hair” in the mid-1950s in Gill Coliseum as part of the student-funded concert series. I’m still mesmerized remembering the sight and sound of her in an emerald green satin gown. She later toured Europe and the world singing and doing a lot of opera! —MARY ANN SARTAIN DUNN, ’ 58, M.S. ’62 I lived at Bloss Hall for three years, from 1972 to 1975, and remember going to Gill Coliseum many times for great basketball, arriving when the doors were opened at 4 p.m. to ↖ Steve Johnson, ’81, celebrates in Gill Coliseum after OSU’s 1980 Pac-10 championship win over Oregon.
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