Memorial Project Is Taking Form
By making a slight change in the official title, the Regents have given even greater meaning to the University's approaching fund-raising effort by designating "The Michigan Memorial Program—The Phoenix Project" as the official name.
The use of this opening phrase gives the objective the character desired by those alumni and students and faculty who initiated the idea. It retains the phrase that is specifically descriptive of the proposed plan — the popular phrase which has caught the fancy of everyone and by which the program possibly will be known generally.
Rapid strides have been made on the Campus as the University has moved toward the objective of initiation of the endeavor. Careful and detailed planning has been necessary for the first great effort of the kind in more than a quarter-century. The Regents have made the program a major item of its business in recent meetings, and organizers have been actively at work in setting up the machinery.
Establishment of the definite program now awaits the final report of a planning committee headed by Professor Ralph A. Sawyer, Dean of the Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studies. The total financial objective, both immediate and long-range, can be estimated when this report is submitted.
The erection of a building, to be the concrete symbol of the program, has been approved by the Regents, who have stipulated that no more than two millions of dollars of the funds raised would be used for this purpose. This structure would represent one phase of the two-fold purpose of "The Michigan Memorial Program — The Phoenix Project." The other, and the hub of the whole enterprise is the establishment of an atomic energy research center designed for peacetime pursuits, plus possibly allied research.
The building would house the offices and other departments of the project and would, in addition, be the tangible symbol of the memorial to those Michigan men and women who died in World War II. The details of the character of the building, though currently fairly well established, will not be announced until final studies of the whole project have been completed.
Alumni leaders have been kept informed of the progress toward final determination of the project and its announcement. University Vice-President Marvin L. Niehuss appeared before the Board of Directors of the Alumni Association at its meeting last month and outlined the steps taken to date. His statement at that time was to the effect that "this program unquestionably marks the greatest task ever undertaken by the vast University family as a unit." He pointed out that some 130,000 alumni will be approached for their support; that students, foundations, friends of the University, and all others sympathetic to the program will be solicited for their aid. In his talk to the Director she stated: "This will require a vast committee organization. The work already is under way and a full-time staff is here on the Campus, setting up the machinery necessary to attain the goal we have set."
Later in the month both Regent Vera Burridge Baits and Provost James P. Adams spoke to alumnae leaders at the Fall gathering of the Alumnae Council. Regent Baits stressed the immensity of the undertaking, its dramatic significance and far-reaching potentialities. She said that the University of Michigan Alumnae Clubs have an opportunity to be of enormous aid in working to publicize the Michigan Memorial Program in their communities. As organized groups in close contact with the University, she stated, they can serve as resources for interpretation and information about the project. She also pointed out that contributions of the Alumnae Clubs would not absolve the individual from giving to this outstanding cause.
Provost Adams, in his talk, stressed the urgent need for the project and welcomed the wholehearted support of Michigan alumnae everywhere. He traced the history of the program and pointed out that its realization would prove to be a high water mark in the life of the University.
THE MICHIGAN ALUMNUS
November 13 1948, page 113
