Go Ask Alumni
For this edition, we asked alumni to tell us about their favorite University of Chicago T-shirts.
My favorite University of Chicago T-shirt has a picture of a squirrel on the back of it with the caption, “Where the squirrels are cuter than the girls.” I’m female, so I remember the person I purchased it from being a little confused that I was buying that one, and not the one that said, “Where the squirrels are more aggressive than the boys.” What can I say? I’ve always had a rather self-deprecating sense of humor.
The reactions I get when I wear the shirt vary.
If it’s a fellow U of C person, they immediately
get the joke, and usually we’ll share a laugh about
the shirt. Very little actually has to be said. If
the person who notices the shirt is not from the
University of Chicago, they usually get a little
confused and ask me to explain my shirt. I tell
them about the crazy yet adorable little squirrels
on campus, and I tell them about our tradition of
wearing shirts that lampoon our campus. Some
people find the tradition endearing.
—Nicolle Neulist, AB’04
When I was attending the GSB (oops, the Booth
School of Business), I saw my all-time favorite
Chicago T-shirt: “Chicago Dating—The odds
are good, but the goods are odd.” Since I met
my husband at the GSB, and we were married
in Bond Chapel, we often joke about the truth
in that Chicago dating slogan. Unfortunately,
when I went back to purchase the T-shirt, the
student group was no longer there, so I didn’t get
to buy one.
—Angela Seaworth, MBA’00
My favorite is the T-shirt (that I wore for years)
that was maroon-colored and had the Harvard
University seal on the front. It said: “Harvard:
the University of Chicago of the East.”
—Susan Kupper, AB’71
My favorite T-shirt slogan appeared while I was
in the College, and I have seldom seen it since:
“The University of Chicago is funnier than you
think.” This was printed next to a laughing gargoyle in maroon on a white background.
I would like to see this T-shirt available again.
My son is a first-year student living in Tufts house,
and they make a lot of money selling the T-shirt
that says: “The University of Chicago—Where
fun comes to die!” Oh well...they make so much
money selling it that the house bought itself a giant
TV for the student lounge. Go Maroons!
—Eduardo Vidal, AB’78, JD’81
My favorite U of C T-shirt was always: “University
of Chicago, The Level of Hell Dante Forgot.”
Not only do I enjoy the reference to the Inferno,
but also the conversations that always sprang
up, criticizing the shirt for using the word “level”
instead of the word “circle.” Now that’s shared
Core knowledge.
—Emily Saidel, AB’05
My favorite T-shirts were those I was directly or indirectly involved in making or inspiring. The Model United Nations of the University of Chicago (now an institution on campus and in high schools across the country) was then in its early years, but one tradition was firmly in place—the official T-shirt, with a clever slogan on the back in English and the rest of the six official languages of the United Nations, including Russian and Arabic. My favorite was, “World peace in four days or your money back.” (We were careful to ensure that the last line said—in Chinese—“Just kidding!”)
The others were those for Thompson House in Pierce Tower, where I lived for three years. You can probably get an idea of the vibe going at that point from one shirt that proclaimed, “We go where even fools fear to tread.” A later shirt quoted former vice president Jonathan Kleinbard, describing one of the funniest events of my years in Thompson House as “very much a mean-spirited thing to do.” (The statute of limitations has probably expired on that one, but I think the less I say about it, the better.)
—Sendhil Revuluri, AB’94
In the early ’80s I remember seeing a T-shirt for
sale that said (with the “Champions” line in huge
type, and the years in tiny type): “The
University of Chicago BIG TEN FOOTBALL
CHAMPIONS: 1899, 1905, 1907, 1908, 1913, 1922, 1924.” I
thought it was pretty funny.
—Jeff Smith, PhD’06
When I was a prospie, I saw shirts that read, “Eat,
drink, and be merry, for tomorrow you may be in
Plato’s republic.”
—Sondra Feldstein, AB’86,AM’87
Back around 1985 or so, a group was selling
T-shirts for Kuviasungnerk that were long-underwear-
type thermal shirts, reading, “Hanna Say
Nerk.” For the youngsters who may not get that
reference, it’s to a band called Frankie Goes to
Hollywood, who for a brief period popularized
T-shirts saying, “Frankie Say Relax” (“Relax”
being one of their few hits). I didn’t purchase
one of the Hanna shirts but wish I had. Truly a
snapshot of a moment in time and a joke only the
U of C would get.
—Louisa Williams Gacek, AB’87
When I was in charge of Green Campus initiative,
we did the first Battle of the Bulbs inter-dormitory
competition. Our T-shirt motto was “Do it in
the dark.”
—Katherine Eva Michonski, AB’07
I remember the various T-shirts fondly from my
years at U of C, but what I think captured the
spirit of the school even better was a song that
came out as students and administration were
debating scaling back the Core. Two (I think
that’s the number) students wrote new lyrics
to “It’s the End of the World as We Know it” by
R.E.M. and changed “world” to “Core.” It was a
great example of U of C spirit and intellectualism,
and I’m sure I still have that CD tucked away in
a box of souvenirs.
—Samantha Anderson, AB’00
