INTERVIEW WITH JOE MCGUIRE, CLASS OF 1977 https://ir.library.illinoisstate.edu/aoh/ Joe McGuire 0:00 Okay, I hit "Continue." Kaitlin Sullivan 0:09 Perfect. Joe McGuire 0:10 I think that's the approval. Kaitlin Sullivan 0:12 Okay, well, then we will go ahead and get started. So, this is Kate Sullivan, graduate advisor of the Student Alumni Council, and I'm talking with Joe McGuire of the Illinois State University Class of 1977 and today is July 28, 2021. During this oral history, we will be reminiscing about the way it was at ISU in 1977. We hope that those who listen to this tape will enjoy hearing from the persons who have volunteered to record this bit of history and find it interesting and informative. So first, Joe, as you think back over the years, what are some of the things that are foremost in your memory of what it was like back then at Illinois State University? Joe McGuire 1:05 Well, ISU was a very interesting time in the mid-70s. We had streaking—you're probably looking at me like "What the heck?"—but that was a goofy time when people ran around naked and you would be sitting there at, food service there at [inaudible] and some naked person would go flying by. We had—Rites of Spring was really in its, big deal there, and you look back through the history of ISU that was kind of one of the more infamous times where the whole Quad was filled up with, with students, with these all-day concerts, and we just [inaudible]. I volunteered for three years, I was, I was a stage manager and got to meet lots of interesting folks that, that performed at that time. And, and it was fun, it, you know, crazy and nutty. But it was a great time of growth for Illinois State and like I said, I wouldn't trade my experiences at ISU in the mid-70s for, for anything. I met my wife Kathy here and she's sitting not too far from here still to this day. So that's something that, that, you know, was great. And I worked for the Vidette, I was a cartoonist for the Vidette and got paid to draw funny little pictures in the school newspaper, [that] was a great thing. I worked at TV 10. Very involved in lots of things at Illinois State and every one of them helped me immensely throughout the rest of my life in my career. And we have two children who are both Illinois State grads too, they have four degrees between them. Tina, we're very proud of her. She teaches in the Department of Comp [Music Composition] and she's now starting her doctoral degree at ISU. So you know, just, I could go on and on but I, that was a very important time of my life. I was very impressionable when I started college. I came from a real tough situation growing up with a single mom and lots of money challenges and family challenges but I'll tell you what, when I walked on the campus of ISU everybody was just so welcoming and there was so many opportunities and that is when my life pivoted in a gigantic way, when I came to ISU. Kaitlin Sullivan 3:37 Oh, well, awesome. That sounds, yeah, like a very good experience and way to kick off, you know, the rest of your life. Joe McGuire 3:46 This was just an amazing time for me and I just realize, you know, with limited resources as far as understanding how things work, that there were so many opportunities, and every instructor, every fellow student, everyone I crossed was like, "Hey, Joe, let's do this. Let's do that. Let's jump into this." And it was like, "Whoa!" It was kind of mind-blowing and I took full advantage and probably my experiences at ISU, my ISU degree, is maybe the most valuable part of, thing that happened to my whole life. Kaitlin Sullivan 4:21 Well, good. Good. What do you remember about the president of the university at the time? Joe McGuire 4:30 I remember Dr. Budig very well. Gene Budig was the president of ISU and a very, very inclusive guy. Very student-centered. In fact, you know, I have a quick story. I, I did a cartoon for the Vidette where they asked me to draw Dr. Budig on Santa Claus' lap because the story was that "What would Dr. Budig like for Christmas?" I drew this really goofy little sketch and he was on Santa Claus' lap asking if, Santa was asking, "Well, Dr. Budig, but would you like for Christmas?" Well, the interesting thing about that, after that ran a couple days, after it ran, I got a call from Dr. Budig's administrative assistant. And she was kind of stern, I thought, and she said, "Mr. McGuire, Dr. Budig would like to meet you in his office tomorrow." I thought oh man, was he mad? What are you, lampooning the president of the university? And I went in and sat down and right on his desk he had already had a copy of the cartoon matted and framed and he wanted— Kaitlin Sullivan 5:45 I love it! Joe McGuire 5:46 —the original, I gave him the original art and he was just so excited about it and just the nicest guy, we talked for over an hour. You know, it's no wonder, you know—and one of many great leaders ISU has had over the years, and I've been fortunate to meet most of them since Dr. Budig. I'll always remember very well, and what's what folks may not know about Dr. Budig, he went on to be the Chancellor of the University of Kansas. That, and then he was the president of the National League of Major League Baseball for many years. Kaitlin Sullivan 6:20 Oh, wow. Joe McGuire 6:21 Had quite the career, and I'm not [inaudible], that's the kind of leader that, that he was. And I will also tell you that a friend of mine told me that he had that cartoon framed and on his wall while he was the Chancellor of the University of Kansas, so— Kaitlin Sullivan 6:37 Good! Joe McGuire 6:21 Feel good. So yeah, no, he, he was, he was always on campus, you could see him walk around the Quad, he'd stop and talk to students all the time. And he had some difficult things to deal with during his administration, the whole Rites of Spring, and there was some, you know, political unrest and stuff. So Dr. Budig will go down as one of my favorite presidents. Joe McGuire 6:37 Well, good, yeah, that's a great memory to have. Who are some of the professors and university administrative officials that you remember? Joe McGuire 7:13 There's, there's quite a few and everyone was great. And probably if there was one professor, that I remember, his name was Dr. Hens, Dr. Dick Hentz, he worked in the Art, he worked in the Art, Art Department, I was an art major in college with an emphasis on graphic design and commercial art. And Dr. Hentz led up that division and he was tough and he was mean, he could be really mean, he was very much a taskmaster on, you know, the accuracy of design and type styles and things like that. And, you know, he really wanted to make sure all his students had excellent portfolios, you know, what we went out with in those days, the big folders with samples of our art, and he would get in your face, he would he would get in your face and be tough about it. And, but I will say that, you know, your work, when you went out, it was where it needed to be. I was helped, it helped you get a job, so he knew what that was about. Dr. Fred Mills was the head of the department, the Art Department, at that time and I actually got to know him well. Went to his home a couple, several times over the years. And he was a tremendous leader. You know, those, those are, those are two that that stick out in my mind. There's a gentleman named Dr. Jeff Szmulewicz, who was the head of TV-10. I don't know if I mentioned that, but that was another activity I got involved in, I was the art director for the campus television station and the news that we did every night at six at the time. And Dr. Szmulewicz was, was very helpful. I ended up working many years in my professional career at the NBC affiliate here in Peoria and a lot of that, my knowledge and that, I learned from Jeff there, was very helpful in my media career. But right off the head, those are those are two or three folks that that jumped right into my head. Harry Thiel, who was the general manager of the Vidette at the time that I was there, was really influential and really a good leader and pointed me in the right direction. So at ISU all along the way, there's always, there was always somebody that was ready to give some advice, reach out, give a helping hand. Yeah. Those are a few that come to mind. Kaitlin Sullivan 9:39 Well, it's great that you, I mean, they definitely were great leaders if you're still, you know, remembering their names and all that they could do for you, so that's awesome. Joe McGuire 9:47 I know, it was a long time ago when you think about it, wasn't it, yeah. Kaitlin Sullivan 9:51 Nah, just a few years. Joe McGuire 9:54 You're very kind, Kaitlin. Kaitlin Sullivan 9:57 Students today talk about how difficult it is to complete their education. How do you compare how it was during your years here to the way it seems to be today? Joe McGuire 10:10 Everything does seem more complicated, right? And maybe it's because I'm just an old guy. You know, it, it, you know, our, our, I put, you know, our children, you know, went to college too and I still talk to students today, and it seems like there's a lot more activity, a lot more distractions, a lot more going on in the world. Its getting to be more complicated and kind of mind-boggling then maybe back in the dark ages, back in the 70s, when, when I went to school. I would say that, I would say there's, there's, there's lots of different distractions and things, you know, thing, you know, trying to keep things simpler and focused, you know, is the is the advice that I give, you know, young people today and try not to worry too much about those other things. Certainly, the cost of getting through college is a lot more and a lot more complicated now than, than it was back then and the a way that students unfortunately have to, have to absorb a lot of student debt and things like that. I would, I had some debt, but it was very small. I did a lot of work. But like I said, the, the cost of college has gone up, you know, pretty, pretty bad and pretty high. And so, I would just tell students right now that, try to keep things simple and try to be focused, sometimes not try to do too much or reach too far. I would just say things overall feel more cluttered and complicated than then they did, you know, over the decades. Kaitlin Sullivan 11:52 Well, that is some great advice. Some I will definitely take with me and focus on as I start grad school. Joe McGuire 11:59 Excellent, okay, yeah. Kaitlin Sullivan 12:03 What kinds of extracurricular activities were important to you and to other students at the time? You mentioned some of them already, but... Joe McGuire 12:14 Yeah, for me, the Vidette and TV-10 were a big thing. I enjoyed sports, you know, I still went and watched the Redbirds. We had some excellent teams in the mid-70s with "Bubbles" Hawkins and Rick Whitlow and, and players like that. It was when Illinois State was really starting to become a Division One force. I went to some football games, I took my wife on our very first date to an ISU football game in October of 1976. Kaitlin Sullivan 12:47 Oh, I love it! Joe McGuire 12:48 And we went to [Shakies?], there was a pizza place back then, after that, and, and that that, that was our first date. And as, as, as other extracurricular activities, a couple of months later, I took her to Homecoming to a Barry Manilow concert, love Barry Manilow. And I think that's what, what, won, won, won her over for me was the Barry Manilow concert back then at the Bone Student Center. Kaitlin Sullivan 13:17 Must have been! Joe McGuire 13:19 I don't it was called that then, but... but no, yeah, a lot of stuff like that, you know, I liked being involved. I liked being out there and kind of in the game of the different things that were happening on campus. But TV-10 and the Vidette were central and, and, you know, going to sporting events and concerts and what, you know, whatever, whatever we could do, especially if it was inexpensive we were into it. Kaitlin Sullivan 13:44 Yes, of course. What services were available on campus then to students, such as health services, counseling, and placement services? Joe McGuire 13:58 You know, the big one for me was the Financial Aid Office. If I had to pick on one back then—because I really did just barely kind of cut it through financially and if there was a grant or if there was a loan, a short-term loan or something that made a dorm payment or whatever—I got to be on the first name basis with several folks in the Financial Aid Department and they were always there to help me and there was a few times when they figured out some things that slid me through. I don't know how it works now these days, but just really amazingly caring people that—if I can think of one department at ISU at the time when, like that, when I was going through school, it was, it was Financial Aid. I'm, I'm going to assume that things are still pretty much that way, that they're there, they're there to help and support, I know that's a big issue for students these days because the costs of school is so expensive. That, for me, that was big. And I, you know, I'd encourage any students even now to, you know, to work that department, but just I would go in and sit down and talk, talk with them for, you know, 20 minutes, 30 minutes, an hour sometimes, and they are just really great and they would sit, we'd talk about, we'd strategize and you get the right forms in and all this and that. They took really, really good care of me and I don't know that I would have necessarily made it through without them making sure all those things were, were in order and they, they helped me with that quite a bit. Kaitlin Sullivan 15:43 Oh, good. I'm glad that you had that resource and that they were willing to sit down with you and figure it out because that ism yes, the stressor that happens for all of us, or most of us, at least. Joe McGuire 15:56 I mean for Kathy and I, Kathy's my wife and, you know, she's a proud Redbird too, of course, but it was so important to us that we really wanted to help take care of our children as they came up and we wanted, and we prepared for that, to make sure that you know, they contributed quite a bit to their, to the cost of their education, but we worked as a team that way because I remember how hard it was, it was actually for both of us, especially me, and, and yeah, financial aid is, when I, when I look back, that was a key thing that kept me on campus, I thought. Kaitlin Sullivan 16:36 Oh, that's amazing. Joe McGuire 16:39 I did a lot of work-study. That, I don't know if that's still available now, but when I worked for the Vidette especially, a certain percent of what they were paying me was part of the work-study program that the Vidette was reimbursed a certain... and that really helped them afford me and that was a big part of the percentage of what my financial aid package was about. Every hour that I worked at the Vidette there was, I think it was like 60 or 70% they would get reimbursed through work-study, which is, you know, win-win for, for everybody. Kaitlin Sullivan 17:18 Yes, well, good. Oh, good. Do you remember what the prices were then for hamburgers, movies, gas, and tuition? You've kind of talked about the difference in tuition prices. Joe McGuire 17:33 No, the one thing I remember is that minimum wage was like $1.60 an hour. Kaitlin Sullivan 17:39 Oh, wow. Joe McGuire 17:41 You know, and that's how much I made when I was at the Vidette, $1.60 an hour and so, you know, I remember what we would do is, you know, during Saturday Night Live, that was a big show back then, we would race down during the commercial break to Avanti's across the street from Hamilton-Whitten and grab, grab, I think it was an 85-cent gondola and run back and we'd get a bunch of those and eat them and watch, when Saturday Night Live first came out, I remember, in the mid-70s when it was really funny. And, and that, I, I, I can remember the price of a gondola. And I don't know, I believe you could get, you could get a McDonald's hamburger, it was like 45 cents, something like that, so it was quite a bit cheaper. But those are the things that jumped into my head right away. Kaitlin Sullivan 18:40 That's awesome. Fun, memories. Joe McGuire 18:42 Enjoyed living on campus, you know, I lived on campus all four years and I thought that was a good part of the education and, and made some friends, lifelong friends to this day that I lived with in the dorm. It was all-around really good experience. Kaitlin Sullivan 19:01 Good. What was the typical mode of dress as far as students, you know, when you were going to classes or... ? Joe McGuire 19:10 You know, it was pretty rough. Oh, it was when, you know, there really wasn't much of a dress code. It was jeans and— Kaitlin Sullivan 19:15 Okay. Joe McGuire 19:16 —beat up shirt. There was a lot of tie dye in those days and we didn't, we didn't really dress up too much. Kaitlin Sullivan 19:29 Not too different, no suits and ties or things on the regular. Joe McGuire 19:33 True. It seems though that, like, work attire now these days is a lot more informal than it was when I first started working in the mid-70s. I member, you know, more wearing suits and ties for meetings and stuff. Kaitlin Sullivan 19:49 Yes. Joe McGuire 19:49 But now it seems like that's not quite the thing as much. But I don't think that attire for students has changed a lot even since my days. Kaitlin Sullivan 20:01 Yeah, that's good. Joe McGuire 20:03 It's about the same. Kaitlin Sullivan 20:04 Okay. What were the most important local, regional, or national events that happened in those years? Joe McGuire 20:15 Let's see, back in the mid-70s, I remember, it was, the big thing, there was a lot happening in government, you recall Watergate and the Nixon years. That was a, that was a big thing with all that scandal, and him resigning his office and being impeached. I did a lot of editorial cartooning for the Vidette so I remember the election in 1976 with Jimmy Carter and Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter was kind of a little bit of a, at that time, a non-traditional candidate. You know, he was more of a "press the flesh, get to know the folks"—he's famous for that big smile and, and so, so all that was a big thing back in the mid-70s. Locally, Mayor Carol Reitan, I remember doing a lot of cartoons about her. She was the mayor of Normal, and her and Dr. Budig, they didn't always agree on things, going back and forth. I remember drawing about a—key thing as far as fire protection, the fire department support for the campus and Watterson Towers, and I remember some controversies like that. But she was very good leader too, Mayor Reitan, and, and, you know, so there was some of that kind of political unrest, not too really, really crazy or too controversial, much, you know, like it is today. I don't know that there was nearly the political divisions, the right and the left and the Democrats and the Republican kind of thing as there are now, conservative-liberal, I, I, I don't, I don't remember too much as far as that. But the election, 1976 with Jimmy Carter, that was, that was kind of a big thing, something we certainly drew and wrote a lot about for the Vidette. Kaitlin Sullivan 22:15 Good. It sounds like you had plenty to create your art for and make your stories too. Joe McGuire 22:23 It was fun and, you know that, Milner Library, to their credit, they have fairly recently digitized the Vidette up till 1980 and you can now go back online through the archives and I've done that a lot. You can go back and see a lot of my cartoons. Kaitlin Sullivan 22:41 I'll have to do that! Joe McGuire 22:43 That are actually in the digital archives now. And, and that's been really cool to do and kudos to, to Milner Library. I know that's a very painstaking, expensive service to digitize old newspapers like that. So about a year ago that, that came out and I've gone back and looked at a lot of those cartoons that, that I drew that are still— Kaitlin Sullivan 23:11 Oh, that's amazing. Joe McGuire 23:12 That are right online, very, very available through the Milner Library project. Kaitlin Sullivan 23:18 Well, good. I'm glad you're been able to look back at your stuff because it's easy to, you know, forget when you've been doing something for so long. Joe McGuire 23:26 It is. It really draws, really brings you right back to the time, just looking at, reading an old story or looking at a, at a cartoon, it really, really took me right back to those crazy days in the mid-70s at ISU. Kaitlin Sullivan 23:42 Well, good. What were the most popular forms of entertainment on campus, I know you talked a little bit about sports and concerts... ? Joe McGuire 23:53 Now, a big one was the Capen, Capen Cinema. There was a free movie on campus every Friday and Saturday night at the Capen Cinema, which is in—which building is that in there? Right there by Schroeder Hall, right on the other side between Schroeder and DeGarmo? Kaitlin Sullivan 24:13 Okay. Joe McGuire 24:14 But that's, that's where they used to show movies, and we went every Friday and Saturday night, and it would be a fairly current movie, or they would do Marx Brothers movies and things like that. Kate's looking at me like, "What?" Kaitlin Sullivan 24:31 Off the top of my head, I don't know. Joe McGuire 24:33 Oh, it's Groucho and them and they're just hilarious. And that place would fill up and we would just laugh all night long. Capen Cinema was, was, it was a really big deal for a lot of students especially that lived on campus back in the mid-70s. It was at, right at that time when the, the, what, the Bone Student Center opened and then it was called, I forget, the Union Auditorium. The building just opened and they had a lot of activities there for the students at the time. And the one I remember was that every Sunday night they had this build-your-own pizza thing where they gave you the dough and you went through and you put all this stuff on it and they put it in the pizza oven for you and it was really inexpensive. You know, back then on Sunday nights there was no dorm food service so, you know, we all kind of looked for an alternate and that was one of the things and, I know this is getting really off track, but people who are Seinfeld fans know that there was a funny episode where, where Kramer had this very same idea to build your own pizza and everybody thought he was nuts. I just think back to the mid-70s at ISU, that we were already doing that. Joe McGuire 25:52 But Capen Cinema, that was, that was a big deal. And there was always some, there were a lot of good concerts and things that came. I remember one of the things was that I was an usher for a John Denver concert that was at Horton. Kaitlin Sullivan 26:03 Oh, wow! Joe McGuire 26:03 And you, that's the thing about ISU, I mean, you could always, nobody could ever say, "Well, there's nothing to do," or "I can't get involved," or "I'm bored." You know, I never had that problem. I don't know anybody else that did. They—ISU would always throw out plenty of ways that you can, you can, you can be in the game and get involved, and to this, you know, my daughter who's, who teaches at ISU, and both, both our kids, they were always able to find activities and things to get involved in. For Tina it was the Big Red Marching Machine. I mean, she loved the ISU Marching Band and, you know, I think it's, I think that's kind of one of the things about ISU. I think the coolest thing about ISU is that it's a big campus. There, you know, 20,000 students, there's a lot going on and a lot of things to get involved in but it never felt that big. If you, you felt a real, always a real sense of community and, and people, you know, willing to wrap their arms around you and get you involved with the, whether it be the instructors and professors of their different departments. I thought that it, I've always thought ISU's a great size school, they have lots of different things to be able to do but yet it wasn't too big, where you didn't have those kind of opportunities. We have a school down, down to the east, U of I, which is a fantastic university and it's huge, but I've heard students say, "Well, I couldn't really get in to this program or that program unless I was at least a graduate student." Kaitlin Sullivan 26:01 Right. Joe McGuire 26:02 "I had these kind of credentials, or I was there." I never, I don't think you run into that at ISU. If there's something you're really interested in, they'll, they'll, they'll find a spot for you. Kaitlin Sullivan 28:01 Right. Joe McGuire 28:01 And on the other side, you know, we have Bradley, which is a great university, but I don't know that they had nearly the number or the breadth of activities and opportunities that an ISU student had. Kaitlin Sullivan 28:13 Right. Joe McGuire 28:14 So, so now, I always just thought ISU was always kind of in the sweet spot as a university where it's big, where you can do some stuff, but it's not too big where, you know, you won't get lost. Kaitlin Sullivan 28:29 Right. All right, good. Lots of fun stuff. What do you remember about the towns of Bloomington and Normal? Joe McGuire 28:40 Well, downtown Normal and I guess—I didn't say that right, because I know they like to be called uptown Normal—but I mean, the, you know, the bars and the things down there. I remember Josie's was a real popular place and Mother Murphy's and the Caboose and right uptown normal, the Normal Theater right there next to campus, that certainly was a great gathering spot for students. The other interesting thing about the 70s was that there was a period of time that, during what, when I was in college that they lowered the drinking age to 18. Kaitlin Sullivan 29:21 Oh, yes. Joe McGuire 29:21 Probably was not, was a terrible idea, but they did and, you know, and so students were, many students were very legally available to go out and get at the bar and bring the libations back to the dorm or the apartments. So that really made those places that were in uptown Normal there very popular. I think that's still important to a lot of students perhaps now today but I always think of uptown Normal. Bloomington, especially since I didn't have a car until I was a senior but... Bloomington and the whole Bloomington thing seemed a little bit more far away. Kaitlin Sullivan 30:07 Gotcha. Joe McGuire 30:08 I knew Bloomington because actually as a youngster I grew up in Bloomington. I was on, when I was on campus at ISU it was more about, about, about uptown Normal and there's a strong relationship, there's, probably stronger even today. I know Dr. Dietz, you know, really worked hard at having, has a great relationship with the town of Normal and Mayor Koos and all that, there's, there's some good synergies there that I think have only gotten better over the years. Kaitlin Sullivan 30:41 Yeah. What do you remember about the use of tobacco and alcoholic beverages by students? You just mentioned that the legal age was at once 18. Joe McGuire 30:55 Yeah, that was, you know, that was kind of a big thing. And, you know, as far as drugs and things, there was, there was, there was some of that. Honestly, I'm not trying to sound like Mr. Goody Two-Shoes or anything, I never took part in that but I thought it was all done pretty much, you know, considering everything, pretty, pretty much done the right way by most students. But yeah, in the mid 70s, there was there was some of that. And I mentioned the Rites of Spring and there was a certain aroma to Rites of Spring back there in the mid-70s and, and when there was big events and concerts and stuff like that. Kaitlin Sullivan 31:41 Right. Joe McGuire 31:42 Not, and that's not an ISU thing, by any means. I mean, that was young people, college-age students at that particular time. Kaitlin Sullivan 31:52 Right. Joe McGuire 31:53 The use was there as far as tobacco goes. I think by the, by, even by the mid-70s, you know, smoking was, smoking cigarettes was really starting to become a thing where, you know, that's simply not good for you. Fewer people even started, started smoking, smoking, even stopped smoking if they'd even started during that period of time. Very many people, almost no people in my particular circles that I traveled with, you know, they'd smoke cigarettes even back then, but... Kaitlin Sullivan 32:30 Right, okay. Joe McGuire 32:31 I think it was starting, the awareness was really, really strong then about, you know, the, the health dangers of smoking. Kaitlin Sullivan 32:39 Right, well, good. What did—I mean, you've already mentioned several things, but what did you like the most about ISU and maybe what did you like the least? Joe McGuire 32:59 As far as the most, I mean, I just really liked the sense of community, the campus. Everybody I ran into, the people, you know, the people were great. As far as not liking, the least, you know, I don't know if it's an, it's an ISU thing, but there's always somebody, you know, that's what I always tell my kids and things, there's always somebody that's the party pooper, that, you know, there's a few people, a few structures, I can think along the way that were either just not very flexible or very interested. There's always some of those and we had some, it's some of the more bureaucratic folks that worked at the university. There were some departments that, you know, I didn't, folks didn't necessarily understand all the time, what, why they did what they did or why they treated people the way they did. Now, I'm sounding negative, but again, I, I, I think that that those particular incidences at Illinois State were very limited, but like the rest of society, you know, there, there, there, you know, there's always some of that. I got my bike stolen twice. Kaitlin Sullivan 34:17 Oh no! Joe McGuire 34:18 I didn't like that because that's how I got around. So, and, you know, I didn't chain it down like I was supposed to, but, you know, that kind of stuff kind of, kind of makes you makes you a little salty when... Kaitlin Sullivan 34:35 Right, right. Joe McGuire 34:38 But overall, you know, it's, it's really, every organization, especially something like a major university, it boils down to the people right? And we have, we had great people, great support at ISU for the, for the most part, for the, for, you know, the huge amount of, of it was really good people. You know, there were some, there were some stinkers but not, not, not a big deal. Kaitlin Sullivan 35:09 Yeah, they didn't rain too hard on your parade. Joe McGuire 35:12 No. Kaitlin Sullivan 35:14 You kind of mentioned Bloomington being further away. Do you remember kind of what the campus boundaries were? Joe McGuire 35:21 I always thought that that uptown Normal was kind of part of the campus. You know obviously that, there's physical boundaries to ISU, you know, you got Tri-Towers out there and past that, that's, kind of ends, and things, campus generally ends right there, you know, along whatever, on the east side there, on the side of the Alamo. But I always thought that, you know, downtown or uptown Normal, was sort of part of the, of the epicenter of, of ISU. But, you know, I did intermural when I was in college, I officiated intramurals, I earned money doing intramural basketball and football. I'll always remember doing flag football at Hancock Stadium and the Horton Field House and that so I always think of the athletics facilities there as a part, part of the campus too. Kaitlin Sullivan 36:28 Right. Joe McGuire 36:29 So I did earn money, I worked at the Vidette and I did the intermural and things, there's a lot of stuff on campus like that, that, that, that was part of the, of the, of the whole campus experience. I think one thing that I remember that—I don't mean to ramble here but I was a, as a freshman at ISU I lived in Manchester Hall. Kaitlin Sullivan 36:53 Okay. Joe McGuire 36:54 And the following year, there was, there, areas of campus, Atkin-Colby, Hamilton-Witten, I would say, that was kind of recently torn down, that I think that would be considered the south dorms, that year, the next year, after, when I would, would have been a sophomore, that whole campus used to be all women. Kaitlin Sullivan 37:14 Oh, wow. Joe McGuire 37:15 Opened up two rows, two rooms, two floors in just Whitten Hall to guys and my roommate went and waited in line 36 hours and got us a room at, on, on Whitten Hall, in Whitten Hall for our sophomore year. Kaitlin Sullivan 37:35 Oh, wow. Joe McGuire 37:36 That year, when we went to Whitten Hall, Witten, Atkin-Colby and Hamilton-Whitten, the odds at the food service were 36-to-one, women compared to men. So that was quite a coup on our part and as it turned out, my senior year, I met my wife in Hamilton Hall, so— Kaitlin Sullivan 37:58 Oh, perfect! Joe McGuire 37:59 Well, that's a, kind of, you know, that's just one of the funny, goofy stories I remember, that we were at, those two floors of Whitten Hall, man, it was, it was crazy because— Kaitlin Sullivan 38:11 Yeah! Joe McGuire 38:12 —by women the whole rest of our college experience. Kaitlin Sullivan 38:16 Oh, that's hilarious. Oh, goodness. What buildings were here and what, for what purposes were they used? So, like, kind of touched on— Joe McGuire 38:30 Well, I think the biggest differences in campus from now to then was that the new library was not open while we were at campus, the new Milner. So we went, so the library for us was the old Milner and Milner's an interesting old building, you know, it had the stacks and different floors and you could get lost in the stacks. And there were rumors, and I think I actually experienced once, that old Milner Library was haunted. Kaitlin Sullivan 39:03 Yeah. Joe McGuire 39:05 Doors would shut surprisingly and winds would shake and it was kind of a freaky place once you get in there among the stacks, and you're getting lost, you don't know where you're at. And so, you know, libraries are, you know, any campus is kind of a central, central location and so old Miller Library was a big thing back in the mid-70s and the new Millner was supposed to open during the time that, that we were there, but it kept getting delayed and delayed and ended up getting delayed like seven years from... Joe McGuire 39:44 Oh, wow. Joe McGuire 39:45 It was supposed to open with the new Union Auditorium, which you know, of course, on the same, same area there. In fact, the overpass was built during while we were at campus, that overpass that goes over to the Bone Student Center. But, so, then, so I guess if that was one thing that was kind of a negative, we never did get to experience the new library. Kaitlin Sullivan 40:11 Right. Joe McGuire 40:12 It was really the only major building that wasn't there when, when we were there. Anything else... that we did, the, of course Redbird Arena hadn't opened yet. Redbird Arena was later. We played, you know, we went to basketball games in the, in the really hot and uncomfortable and very loud Horton Fieldhouse [inaudible] back in those days. Kaitlin Sullivan 40:38 Right. Joe McGuire 40:38 It was very uncomfortable. But Redbird Arena came later too, that, that was, came quite a bit later than when we were on campus. Kaitlin Sullivan 40:48 Okay, so a pretty similar layout. Joe McGuire 40:51 Yeah, it was except for, you know, like the library and Redbird Arena, most of it was pretty much the same. Kaitlin Sullivan 41:00 Good. What was the most humorous event that happened while you were here as a student, if you can even name just one? Joe McGuire 41:08 The most humorous, the most humorous event? You know, you know, the one thing we used to do is that, you know, if you, be on campus, on the, on the quad, and, let's say, I would be a junior or a senior or a sophomore, and you'd see some freshmen come through, especially some freshmen girls, you know, you might walk up to one of the freshmen girls and say, "Excuse me, do you know how to get to Schroeder Hall?" And they would say, "No, I'm new on campus," well, you'd go, "Well, you go down, you walk down here and you go the left," it's kind of a joke where you're just trying to start conversation when you knew how to get there. I don't know why that popped my head. Some funny, goofy things us guys used to do on campus, just to try to talk to the girls or whatever. Kaitlin Sullivan 42:04 Right. Joe McGuire 42:06 I mean, I know that's not hilarious but I guess it's, it's, I guess the other experience I can think of is that when we were working the stage for Rites of Spring, me and, I had this really crazy friend, another student, we were working the stage and one year they decided to have Rites of Spring at Hancock Stadium trying to control everything, so that the folks watching the concert had to sit in the stands and the band stage was set up on the football field. But anyhow, one, one of the bands came in, it was a band called Golden Earring. And Golden Earring had this one hit, you know, or a one hit, what was it's called, "Radar Love." And my friend just hated Golden Earring. He thought they were the worst band. But we had to help get the band in and help them set up, and finally, I don't know what got in my friend, but finally he looked at one of the band members that goes, "You guys stink, you're terrible." And it started, they started fighting and everybody started laughing because this little melee went on and university security came over and, and actually a lot of the band members, they're laughing their heads off and some of the other students. I guess that's one of the goofy things that just keeps—I think back, that was kind of strange at first, though, everybody was just laughing and I guess he was, he later told me he was just kind of joking around with them... Kaitlin Sullivan 43:39 And just had a little bit of chaos. Kaitlin Sullivan 43:44 Yeah, it was a little bit of chaos, that's a good way to put it, Kait. Kaitlin Sullivan 43:48 Well, we've made it till the last question. So, in summary, are there any special memories that you have which we haven't already covered? Joe McGuire 44:00 I think I pretty much hit it. Kaitlin Sullivan 44:02 Yeah. Joe McGuire 44:03 Just, I guess I just want, would just reiterate that ISU was the absolute most crucial time in my life, going to college. I didn't really have high expectations, I didn't know what to expect, but the welcoming spirit of everybody at the university, the, the opportunities that ISU afforded came at just the right time in my life where I was able to, to seize them, to make something, make some things happen in my own life and some, and the lives around me, that really set the stage for what became a very successful professional career in life later. And still to this day, ISU is still very much part of Kathy, my wife, and I's life. We're still real involved. We still have season football and basketball tickets to this day. I've mentioned before that I'm a proud member of our Alumni Board. And our kids, you know, once Tina gets her doctorate we'll have seven ISU degrees in our family between the four of us. Kaitlin Sullivan 45:18 Amazing. Joe McGuire 45:19 So it just is really important and crucial and fun and I get so excited when I run into a youngster who's trying to decide where to go to college and I'm always ready to sing our university's praises and I get even more excited when, like, we got a call a couple of weeks ago from a friend who said, "Well, I want you to talk to our son, they've just decided to go to ISU." And I just think that, you know, I guess any university is what you make of it, right? But I think ISU just puts everything right in place and I tell young people today that are planning to go to ISU, you know, grab for the gusto, go for it. It's, it's, if you really want to make it happen, it can be the kind of place that really sets you up for a very, you know, very bright future. Kaitlin Sullivan 46:19 Well, awesome. I've enjoyed spending this time with you and hearing, you know, your words of wisdom and also some of your memories. So thank you for taking time out of your day. Joe McGuire 46:28 It was great meeting you, Kait, and I can tell already, just by my conversation with you, your future looks very bright— Kaitlin Sullivan 46:35 Well, thank you. Joe McGuire 46:35 And if there's anything I can do, let me know if there's any good word I can put in for you or anything I can, any direction I can lead you in, just let me know. [Inaudible] students over the years and we, we want and we do have, you know, tens of thousands of successful Redbirds out there and you're going to be one of them. Kaitlin Sullivan 46:56 Well, thank you. Thank you so much, and I will definitely reach out. Joe McGuire 47:00 Very good. Kaitlin Sullivan 47:01 Perfect. Have a good day. Joe McGuire 47:03 You bet, thanks. Kaitlin Sullivan 47:04 Thank you.