Brass Block M removed from Diag

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Michigan
1

<p>From MLive.com</p>

<p>"The brass block M seal on the University of Michigan Diag is gone after vandals attempted to pry it from the ground last week.</p>

<p>University of Michigan Police Sgt. Jason Forsberg said an officer was flagged down the morning of Aug. 21 by someone who noticed the M was partially pried up and was protruding from the concrete. </p>

<p>It was removed by the U-M welding shop for repairs. No one has been charged with vandalizing it, Forsberg said.</p>

<p>According to the Alumni Association of the University of Michigan, the landmark in front of the Hatcher Graduate Library has been in place since it was installed by the class of 1953. Prior to that, a brick-and-mortar seal had been in place since the 1920s. That seal was removed in 1952 to make way for a new walkway. </p>

<p>The block M carries superstition that freshmen students who step on it before their first blue book exam will fail. In earlier times, it marked a spot of rivalry between freshmen and upper classmates. The frosh weren't allowed to set foot in the circle surrounding the seal or they'd suffer the consequences, so says the Alumni Association."</p>

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<p>Wow. Why would you want to steal the M?</p>

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<p>Guess I won’t be failing my blue book exam since the M won’t be there before school starts (hopefully).</p>

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<p>It’s pretty easy not to step on it anyway, Entertainer. :stuck_out_tongue: From what I have seen, for the most part EVERYONE walks around it or steps over it even if they are walking straight down the center of the diag, so unless you are hurrying through at a time when the diag is totally empty I doubt you’d forget not to walk over it. I hope they bring it back soon!</p>

5

<p>that would actually be a pretty cool thing to have but you have to have big balls to steal it.</p>

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<p>What a jerkish move. I hope they put it back soon…</p>

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<p>They better put it back. So I have something to step on.</p>

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<p>@TwistedKiss - and then there are the high schoolers like me who have been born and bred in Ann Arbor and stepped on it as three year olds before we even knew what UM was. ;)</p>

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<p>Well now you’re going to fail, so there. :P</p>

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<p>uh-oh. :stuck_out_tongue: how many four leaf clovers do you think would offset that?</p>

<p>that said, I was horrified when I saw that the M was gone. kind of a bug-eyed OMG WHERE’S THE M?</p>

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<p>My tour guide at campus day told me that you could break the curse by running naked from the diag to the clock tower (?) as the clock strikes 12, however she also mentioned that there is a noise ordinance and the clock doesn’t actually go off at midnight, so you might only be able to bring it to a C. :)</p>

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<p>WHAT! I thought I could offset it by stealing th…</p>

<p>So now I got to try this naked running thing?</p>