Q: Was there a UWGB in the 1800s?

A: Techincally speaking, there was not a UW-Green Bay back before Wisconsin was a state. But, the Christ Episcopal Church started planning a university in 1838.

In fall 1838, issues of the Wisconsin Democrat newspaper featured a notice that read: “‘Wisconsin University of Green Bay.’ A meeting of the Board of Trustees of the above institution will be held, in accordance with a resolution adopted at the first meeting, at the Green Bay Protestant Episcopal Mission Establishment.”

On Dec. 14 of that year, the doors of the Wisconsin University of Green Bay opened as an Native American boarding school.

The school had opposition from local French Roman Catholics, who at the time made up the majority of the population.

A church record also stated the Native Americans “reacted against the harsh discipline.”

The school never took off and only had a few Menominee children at the mission. In 1842, the school was closed. —Jon Hayden

Q: I recall a creepy mannequin in an engineering display in Environmental Sciences. It’s still in my nightmares but not in the display case anymore—where’d it go?

A: Second only to Phlash the Phoenix, the engineering mannequin became something like UW-Green Bay’s official mascot. The white-wigged, spectacled engineer was decked out in a memorable color scheme with a blue helmet, blue pants, brown jacket and blue/brown/olive-green-striped tie.

Kevin Fermanich, assistant professor of natural and applied sciences, remembers the mannequin had been in one of the ES second-floor display cases since at least the early 1990s. And then, sometime around winter break between 2001 and 2002 …

“I’m not sure who took it out, or if anybody intentionally took it out that was in charge of it,” Fermanich said. “It was unlocked, and someone walked away with it. So it’s gone missing.”

But not missing in so many words because no one really seems to miss the mannequin.

Patricia Terry, associate professor of natural and applied sciences, said she was glad to see it go when she received a call from Public Safety noting it was missing. Why?

“Of course, it did depict the male/female role (in engineering) very well,” Fermanich said.

So was it male or female?

“I think that was one of the issues,” Fermanich said with a chuckle.
Public Safety Director Randy Christopherson said he never received any report of the mannequin being stolen.

Is it possible the mannequin pulled a Kim Cattrall and walked out on its own? Who knows—he/she might be lurking somewhere on campus right now.

Well, good luck sleeping tonight.
—Andy Behrendt

Q: What happened to the Garenca? I used to love to get food there.

A: There never was a “Garenca.” That was just the word made by the remaining letters on one side of the Garden Café’s old sign. After losing even more letters since labeling the “Garen Café,” the sign was replaced last month with a nice forest green sign matching all the others on campus.
Similarly, for those who remember another old sign near the Cofrin Library, there never was a “Woo Ha.” Sorry for those of you Busta Rhymes fans who walked to Wood Hall trying to find it.
—Andy Behrendt

Q: Are Tim Meyer and Steve Meyer brothers or something? They sort of look and act alike.

A: They’re not related at all. Timothy Meyer, a long-time UWGB professor of information and computing sciences, is originally from Sheboygan. Steven Meyer, assistant professor of natural and applied sciences, hails from Des Plaines, Ill., and joined the UWGB faculty last year after 18 years in Lincoln, Neb.

Steve Meyer said he doesn’t remember even meeting his surname counterpart, though he’s gotten phone calls for the other Meyer. Tim Meyer said both Meyers might have appeared together in a university panel discussion on general education.

Otherwise, though there is some resemblance, they’re just two guys in a big pool of Meyers.

But with Steven Meyer as UWGB’s local weather guru and Tim Meyer as the campus’ electronic media expert, students hoping to become TV weather forecasters could have a lot to learn from each of them.
—Andy Behrendt

Mannequin in an engineering display in Environmental Sciences

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Last modified: 4-3-2003