87 Gymnasium

Posted by Kelsey O'Brien on August 28, 2018
Sixty years ago, NASA was formed, the microchip was invented, Ella Fitzgerald was on the radio, and four men from RPI won the National Handball Championship in Chicago, Illinois. That’s right! Mike McQuillen, Harvey Poppell, Jerry Gonick, and Fernando Arias, under the guidance of RPI’s Athletic Director, “Pop” Graham, won the National Cup in handball, a sport that the team, besides Gonick, had never played until freshman year of college.
Posted by John Dojka on June 8, 2012
Rendering of the proposed gymnasium as it appeared in the 1912 Transit. As we noted in our Commencement 1912 post, the ’87 Gymnasium was dedicated in June 1912.
Posted by John Dojka on May 4, 2012
Rensselaer’s 86th annual commencement exercises were held in the Troy Music Hall on Wednesday June 12, 1912. Institute President Palmer C. Ricketts presented diplomas to 118 graduating seniors. The Class of 1912 was the largest class to date to graduate from the Institute.
Posted by John Dojka on August 12, 2010
The opening of the '87 Gymnasium marked a new focus on physical education at Rensselaer.  The effort to acquire appropriate fitness facilities had been largely student driven up to this point.  Students chronically complained about the lack of athletic venues and gym facilities on campus.  In 1912, the administration, led by
Posted by John Dojka on June 28, 2010
The '87 Gymnasium opened its doors in 1912 and thus began an new era in athletics and physical education at Rensselaer (I'll write more about this in a future blog post).  The new gym required a new custodian to take care of it and so Emil H. Page was hired to do the job.
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