Since coaches of that period sometimes had trouble fielding a full squad, I usually got to participate in intermural matches. I had two coaches; both were pleasant and competent individuals. I won only one intermural match; I also was only pinned once--so I perhaps I wasn�t completely useless. I also found that I enjoyed running on the indoor and outdoor tracks, lifting weights, and swimming. I ran often past the site of the first man-made nuclear reaction. I might try to impress the reader by saying that, to this day, I have a slight tendency to glow in the dark. But, in 2005, Chicago's Communication Director, Mr. Larry Arbeiter, falsely accused me of sensationalism. I wouldn't want to provide any scrap of evidence here which might lead him further astray than he already is. 
  
A memorable event from my campus years was a heated
controversy about whether or not football should be reinstated.
         While an undergraduate, I met the athletic director on at least one occasion. Although I unfortunately can�t recall the gentleman�s name as I am writing this, he was well regarded for the program he�d created at Chicago.  And he certainly seemed to deserve a good deal of credit--for providing a wide range of activities that would allow almost any student to find something he or she could participate in. The athletic program not only matched the recreational needs of the Chicago�s (perhaps somewhat atypical) student body, but also seemed to lead the way for other institutions--as I was to find out later.
       After getting my degree from Chicago, I did graduate work at Northwestern and the University of Washington in Seattle. At both those institutions, there was a lack of athletic facilities for use by the general population of students and faculty. The University of Washington did acquire a general-use facility, with gym, pool, etc. near the end of the time I was on that campus. Their facility opened around 1969 or 1970. My impression is that almost all US colleges now have such facilities. The world is a better place, which is nice, and the University of Chicago showed leadership in bringing about the improved situation.
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Another Chicago alumnus, Hollis Wagenstein, also appreciated the physical education program. In an e-mail to me, she wrote, "If I had my say in the matter, Phys Ed would be mandatory for all four years. One of life's biggest lessons learned . . .."
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