Alumni News

The Class of 1976

Bold graphic text reading “THE CLASS OF 1976”
With the class of 1976’s 50th Reunion coming up — and ’70s friends joining in — let’s take a look back at what life was like on campus and beyond during the class of ’75-’76 school year for these Wildcats.
Vintage-style photo of a young woman sitting barefoot against a tree, writing in a notebook outdoors.
Two black-and-white yearbook portraits from the 1970s, one of a young man with curly hair in a suit and patterned tie and one of a young woman with long straight hair.
Garry Haworth ’76 and Sharon Penney ’76, two of the members of the Reunion committee.
Pair of brightly colored platform shoes in yellow, red, and blue with thick wooden heels.

Around campus

The school year kicks off with traffic troubles, higher parking fees, the opening of the new Mini Dorms and roughly 200 freshmen assigned to “build-ups” — a situation in which more students than planned are forced to share a room. In Hubbard Hall, for example, six students share a room intended for two, and lounges are turned into rooms. Officials at the time blame the housing issue on two things that should have been good news: more upperclassmen choosing to stay in the dorms, and fewer students than anticipated dropping out.

Black silhouette of a skier midair performing a jump with ski poles extended.
The ski team is reinstated after its budget from the previous season was slashed, leaving the team unable to train or compete. Athletes, fans, parents, businesses and alumni rally around the team — more than 1,600 students sign a petition to reinstate the ski team, local business leaders talk about the importance of the skiing industry to New Hampshire, and the team itself writes a letter to university officials stating that at least 10 team members would drop out of UNH if the skiing team was not funded. Thanks to $15,000 raised by donors, the team makes a comeback the following season.
Black-and-white photo of several people gathered at a bar, smiling and holding drinks, with cash laid on the counter.
The Down Under
By spring, class of ’76 seniors are enjoying good times at places like The Keg Room and The Down Under. In the fall, The Keg Room — dubbed the “oldest drinking emporium in Durham” by TNH — is sold to a new owner. The Down Under would close four years later.

On campus, construction begins on the Alumni Center after a fundraising campaign. Says Alumni Association Director Carmen Ragonese, “Now we’ll have a home. Alumni visiting campus can say, ‘I’ll meet you at The Alumni Center.’” The project costs $800,000.

1975 University of New Hampshire newspaper front page with headline about delaying a decision on an old livestock barn.
Black-and-white cutout image of a woman wearing a patterned dress and headwrap, posed with one hand near her chest.
Ticket graphic reading “Bob Dylan – The Rolling Thunder Revue – The 1975 Live Recordings – Admit One.”

Notable visitors

Lady Sings the Blues: Ella Fitzgerald performs at the Field House in September 1975.

Rolling Thunder Revue: The traveling musical troubadours — including Joan Baez and Bob Dylan — also rock the Field House that fall.

As always, UNH is an important political stop for presidential candidates: President Gerald Ford and then-Republican candidate Ronald Reagan visit campus in February 1976.

Headlines from

The New Hampshire student newspaper:

  • Students take UNH to court
  • DRAC approves 24-hour visitation: Six dorms included
  • Backgammon: Strategy, decisions and sweaty hands
  • $15,000 pledged, skiers reinstated
  • Solar energy heat a possibility for three dorms in 10 years
  • Moustache petition presented to President Mills
mustache
Two men in suits shaking hands behind a podium, engaged in conversation during a formal event.

READY TO REVEL

in your ’70s memories? Be sure to register for Reunion, June 5-7. Register here: unh.edu/reunion

Portrait of a smiling baseball player wearing a red cap with a “B” logo and matching uniform.
Album cover for Paul Simon’s “50 Ways to Leave Your Lover,” featuring the artist standing in a recording studio.

pop culture

October 1975: In one of the most famous World Series games ever played, a 12th-inning home run by UNH’s own Carlton Fisk gets the Boston Red Sox a win over the Cincinnati Reds in Game 6 of the World Series in October. Sadly, the Reds win the series in Game 7, but watching Fisk wave his walk-off home run fair is still a treasured memory for Sox fans.

February 1976: Paul Simon’s “50 Ways to Leave Your Lover” spends three weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100.

Movie poster for “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” starring Jack Nicholson, showing Nicholson looking upward in front of a chain-link fence.
March 1976: The old livestock barn is demolished by the university, much to the dismay of the Save Our Barn Committee, which had been petitioning the university for months to save the structure. Built in 1922, the barn had become an icon on campus. Student Roger Cole wrote about the committee’s work and the barn’s eventual demise in the 1976 yearbook, quoting singer Joni Mitchell: “Don’t it always seem to go, you don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone … you pave paradise, and put up a parking lot.”
Vintage personal computer with an orange console base, keyboard, and small CRT monitor on top.
March 1976: “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest,” starring Jack Nicholson, sweeps the Academy Awards, winning Oscars for best picture, best actor, best actress, best director and best adapted screenplay.

April 1, 1976: No April Fools here: Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak and Ronald Wayne form Apple Computer Company in California. Never heard of Ronald Wayne? Not surprising — just 12 days later, Wayne gets gun-shy about the new venture and sells his shares back to “the Two Steves” for $800.

READY TO REVEL

in your ’70s memories? Be sure to register for Reunion, June 5-7. Register here: unh.edu/reunion

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