Gordon Burt - Alumnus

Memory: Fast Times at Metro State...

It was the spring of 1970, my first Quarter at Metro State
College.

Crazy times, with the upstart college hosting it's first early
Urban Mix: kids just out of local high-schools, returning
Vietnam vets and assorted urban hippies, pre-yuppies, working
people, and the rest...indeed, not that different from today's
Roadrunner mix.

I didn't even know where the term "Roadrunner" originated, yet
we truly were earning our nickname...

We had 10 minutes to run between classes, and for some of the
budget-oriented, also move our Vegas and Valiants to new 2
hour parking spots. After all, the lots were an outrageous $3-4
a day!

So, after a long day of running between music classes at the
Cherokee Building (l11th and Cherokee) and the English and
German classes near Colfax and Glenarm. The Music majors had
gathered for our favorite 3.2 beverage, at the Cherokee Bar,
(Today it's a more upscale Cherokee Bar and Grill.)

All of a sudden, one our regulars reappeared from some of those
frequent trips down the hall, (remember 3.2 beer?), IN THE
BUFF-- hey, wrong school bub. At least he was running--in
true Roadrunner style (and thankfully for those doing trendy
things, it was a warm spring!)

Yes, we could really move in those Nike state-of-the-art "waffle"
bottom running shoes...just watch out for those road apples.

Yes The early 70's saw the streaking fad in it's full glory.
Luckily, we decided to stick with the more conventional
Roadrunner moniker.

Mary Kardoes Bleecher, '76

Memory: While I have many substantive memories of my Metro State education, the most unique one was that I was selected to serve as a student judge for the Best Male Faculty Legs competition in the 1976 Mayfest celebration!

Dennis Brungardt, El. Ed. ‘75 (40th Anniversary submission)

I loved going to Burger Chef on Colfax. It was a great place to hang out between classes and grab a cup of coffee and a hamburger. The old tin temporary buildings are now gone but I can still remember waiting between classes for the next one.

Patricia Payne, HPSL ‘79 (40th Anniversary submission)

My favorite story about attending Metro was a conversation I had with my 4 year old daughter. I took her to the child development center at Metro while I attended classes. I would always take her into the center and then park my car. After attending a few months, my mother came for a visit. I was driving her around Denver and we went by Metro. As we drove by, I told my mom that was “my school.” My daughter immediatlely corrected me and told me it was “her school, not mine.” After that, I would take her out of the center for lunch with me from time to time just to let her know it was at “her school, too”

Steve Ruddick, History ‘77 (40th Anniversary submission)

I was recruited out of high school to attend Metro State in 1977 by the two person recruiting team of Political Science Professors Weston and Conner who simply got in their car and drove to the local high schools.

As one of the few traditional students on campus, I could not hang out at the informal student union with the faculty and other classmates, the White Mule Bar, until my senior year. Instead, I had to settle for the Burger Chef and Jeff next door.

We were required to attend a physical education class for a liberal arts degree and the basketball team didn’t have a home court, they practiced at the old downtown YMCA.

I found in the course syllbus, Bowling 101, which promised a real beer after every class. What I discovered was that since I was the only non-bowler in the class, I really needed that beer before I bowled, not after.

Metro State was a serious eduational facility with determined, mature students, but there was fun to be had, in the most unusual places

Phyllis Delmont - Human Services ‘71 (40th Anniversary submission)

I attended Metro before there was a campus. We walked from one downtown building to another for classes. My biggest challenge, other than returning to school at age 50, was remembering where I had parked my car.

Roy Wilson - Math & Computer Science ‘76 (40th Anniversary submission)

It is the summer of 1969. Having dropped out of high school for the final time, I have entered the only open-enrollment institution around, Metro. Walking toward the Cherokee Building, located near Speer, I see a building that looks like it is used for industrial purposes. After entering, I think “Is Metro a fly-by-night operation?” If memory serves, there were classes on one side of the building and what looked like heavy industry of sorts on the other.

I took an English class taught by Charles Bursiel and was a bit nervous. The next semester, I took Freshman Composition from Joy Yunker (recently deceased), who advised me that I should narrow the scope of my proposed paper topic, saying “Leave that for your dissertation”. Over thity-five years later, I completed a dissertation and now have a Ph.D. I (and others) owe the early educators at Metro a debt of gratitude for their commitment, knowledge, and skill.

(reprinted from the 40th Anniversary Our Stories Web site)