By Oregon Stater Staff
Our cover story on the rewilding of the Klamath River inspired many readers to write in and share their pride in OSU research. The story was also picked up in some unexpected places. A journalist writing about the project for a British magazine — 2024 was a record year for dam removal in Europe, too — saw the Stater on an alumni couple’s coffee table and reached out to one of the featured Oregon State scientists. We were also very excited to receive so many of your memories of Gill Coliseum. Keep them coming!
Thank you so much for the article [“Rewilding the Klamath”] about restoring the Klamath drainage. I graduated from the OSU College of Forestry a little over four decades ago and have spent most of my career deeply engaged in environmental, economic and social issues.
The article literally brought tears to my eyes. I fully understand the monumental undertaking of the project. It was and is a truly historic (in human terms) undertaking that required the cooperation of many powerful interests. It’s not just about science and engineering; it’s about the emotional connection people have to the land, the challenges of navigating conflicting interests and the importance of recognizing the efforts of those working toward solutions.
My deepest heartfelt thanks to those who made the Klamath project possible (on both sides of the fence, literally). It leaves me wondering … how many more decades will pass before we take a hard look at the Columbia?
—Jim Hurst, ’83
The article literally brought tears to my eyes…my deepest heartfelt thanks to those who made the Klamath project possible.
So happy to see the university involved in the removal of the dams on the Klamath River! Since I live 12 miles from the Oxbow Dam on the Snake River, on a ranch near Halfway, Oregon, I would hope that the same would be done on this river.
Three dams were built in the 1950s and 1960s, and each made no allowance for the passage of fish. Hells Canyon Dam — the newest and an impenetrable wall — stopped the Snake dead in its tracks. Alas, these dams are too young to take down, but one can wish. Maybe in another 50 years.
—Tom Nash, ’72
We just received your winter 2025 edition of the Oregon Stater and read it front-to-back. I think it must be the best one you have ever published — easy reading, informational and otherwise great. Thanks for your work to keep the Oregon Stater going. We pass it to two other grad families living in our retirement village, and they love it to keep up a bit on old OSC.
—Ron, ’57, and Millie Akers, ’59
Wow — what a great edition! A wonderful lesson on the Klamath River dam project. Go salmon! And thanks for the Gill Coliseum memories. I was part of the turtle races, the dented trophy, the win over UCLA (stood right next to Walton when we stormed the floor) and many concerts. It was made even better by the article being written by a high school chum — Kip Carlson!
—Margaret Cody, ’74
In the article “Truth Tellers and Builders,” President Murthy is quoted as saying “we want to tell the whole story — the economic, sociological and other consequences that flow from these decisions” in reference to the dam removal project. However, in the article “Rewilding the Klamath” I see zero reference to the damage the project has done and is doing to local agriculture, fishing or business in general.
—Joseph Bain, ’86
The newly exposed banks of the Klamath River began to green after being planted with native seeds. Photo by David Baker
The Klamath fisheries will be at critical survival levels until Mother Nature provides a 1964-intensity or stronger flood event to scour the colloi-dal suspension clay soils off the banks where the dams were located. Warren Buffett [CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, which owns the power company that previously managed the dams] opted to allow the accumulated clays to wash to the ocean. Everything from the Collier I-5 rest area water system to the spawning beds have been fouled. I’ve lived and worked here for nearly 70 years. I was on the leave-the-dams-in side of the debate. The fish they tout as migrating up Jenny Creek were hauled up there in a truck by Cal Wild.
—Mark Johnson, ’81
Editor’s note: Our story focused on the science and engineering emerging from the Klamath River, rather than on the controversy surrounding the dams’ removal, but we recognize that it’s been a hot-button issue, especially in the local community. Oregon State has a long history of supporting the Klamath River basin in managing complex water issues. We can’t confirm this writer’s claims, but we look forward to seeing what the numbers show after habitat restoration concludes.
I attended Oregon State from 1955 to 1957 and clearly remember registering for classes at Gill Coliseum — an all-day job!
I just missed being the first student the year OSC (as it was known then) topped 5,000 students; my memory is that I was No. 5003. There were no computers in those days, and students sat in Gill Coliseum bleachers and spent an hour or two filling out our “train tickets” — a long line of postcard-sized cards, attached by a perforated tear-off strip, with almost identical information for every class. The basketball floor was filled with tables for every class offered, and there were long lines of hopeful students.
I dropped out in 1957 to attend a broadcast engineering school and spent 35 years in radio. I always wanted to go back and finish my degree. In 2020, I did just that at OSU-Cascades in Bend, graduating with a bachelor’s in liberal studies at age 85 — their oldest graduate! I love OSU, and I have fond memories of my time there, including in Gill Coliseum … mostly filling out “train tickets.”
—Robert “Bob” O. Weed, ’22
During the 1981-82 season, the men’s basketball team was rated No. 1 in the national polls, and I saw them beat UCLA (along with just about everyone else) at Gill Coliseum. [The Beavs won their third consecutive conference title that year.]
Anyone who was at the 1982 commencement must remember how things got off to a shaky start. Someone had been standing at the podium, acting like she was an official part of the ceremony. After more than 3,000 graduates and a full house were finally seated, she announced, “I have something very important to say. This building is going to fall down, and we must all leave immediately!” It was like yelling “Fire!”
As a structural engineer, I looked for any signs of impending collapse, still in my seat. Quickly, President MacVicar nudged her away from the microphone and, cool as a cucumber, said, “Anyone who was at the UCLA game knows this building isn’t going to fall down.” This enabled the graduation to proceed without further interruption. Incredibly enough, about an hour or so later, I was on stage, handed my diploma and photographed shaking President MacVicar’s hand.
—Jan Stribula, ’82
Thank you for an excellent article regarding dam removal on the Klamath and your recap of Gill Coliseum history.
My first experience with the coliseum was on a field trip from Lebanon, Oregon, for my fourth-grade Oregon history studies, to Horner Museum. This would have been the mid-1950s — my first out-of-town field trip and my first museum. Memorable, and I still mourn the removal of the museum from the coliseum basement.
Next, as a transfer student from U of O in 1964, I experienced the wonder of class registration in the coliseum’s athletic court. Registration at U of O still involved going from building to building all about campus, often taking two or three days. OSU’s registration was a revelation!
I had transferred to OSU because I married one of your basketball players — he was on the junior varsity team. We were pretty close to penniless — he was not on a “ride” — so our summer jobs and what little our parents could provide allowed us to afford a $55-per-month apartment with no car, no television and no telephone. One basketball-game evening, we had an out-of-town visitor. My usual practice was to go to the coliseum early and sit in the stands waiting for things to get started. (ID checkers weren’t there yet.) This I did, and I gave my ID card to our visitor so she could get in free. Looking nothing like me, she was caught! My ID card was confiscated, and we both were ejected! I spent the rest of the school year without a student ID.
—Warrene (Beymer) Gill, ’65
I arrived as a freshman at Oregon State in 1963. Not long after, I heard there were all-school tryouts for the Oregon State basketball team. Yes, in 1963 Slats Gill himself was still the coach, and there were still the Rooks, but I couldn’t stay away. As a not-particularly-good high school player, I knew I had no chance, but what the heck, I laced up my Chuck Taylor sneakers and walked onto the court. This very court was home to the Final Four team of 1962-63, and there I was standing midcourt — knowing I was soon to be excused, but I was there. This was Gill!
I never missed a basketball game in those heady days. When the hated Ducks came to town, a pregame introduction consisted of an OSU student dressed in duck hunting gear wandering to center court with a shotgun. As he fired blanks, about a half dozen dead ducks came falling from the sky as his buddy, hiding on that catwalk, hurled the waterfowl earthward. It was hilarious, and the student body went wild.
During my senior year, I met and began dating Sheryl Rosvall. On our first date, we went to Gill to enjoy a concert featuring Petula Clark. The following fall term, Sheryl was selected to be on the Homecoming Court. They had a pageant to choose the queen at Gill Coliseum. There was a big crowd, as Homecoming was a big deal in those days, complete with house signs, floats, the bonfire and, of course, the coronation. When it was over, I was the happiest guy in Oregon, as there in the center of Gill Coliseum, my girl was crowned Homecoming Queen. She has now been Sheryl Rosvall Van Fleet for 54 wonderful years.
—Bryon Van Fleet, ’68, M.S. ’72
Steve Johnson, ’81, celebrates in Gill Coliseum after OSU’s 1980 Pac-10 championship win over Oregon. Photo courtesy of OSU Athletics
A lovely young Leontyne Price sang “Black Is the Color of My True Love’s Hair” in the mid-1950s in Gill Coliseum as part of the student-funded concert series. I’m still mesmerized remembering the sight and sound of her in an emerald green satin gown. She later toured Europe and the world singing and doing a lot of opera!
—Mary Ann Sartain Dunn, ’58, M.S. ’62
I lived at Bloss Hall for three years, from 1972 to 1975, and remember going to Gill Coliseum many times for great basketball, arriving when the doors were opened at 4 p.m. to save seats for the big games, notably with UCLA, USC and Oregon — exciting times to be a Beaver.
—Tom Sanders, ’76
I enjoyed Kip Carlson’s recent article on the 75th anniversary of Gill Coliseum. I retain so many fond memories: camping on the ramps for Orange Express tickets in the early to mid-1980s, Bill Cosby and George Burns, Huey Lewis and the News, Howard Jones, class registration en masse, fast walking across the stage to receive a diploma, student one-on-one basketball competitions at half-time of Pac-10 games, and watching my kids and their friends play hoops on the floor after Pac-12 games. I never get tired of returning to Gill, just as I did recently to watch the new-look Beaver Men’s Basketball team beat San Diego by 27 points. Thank you, Kip, for your continued good work on behalf of Beaver Nation!
—Tom Howard, ’86
I enjoyed the article on memories of Gill Coliseum. As a 1963 graduate and, at the time, student body president, I particularly recall the October 1962 storm that blew half the roof off the building. The university president, James Jensen, asked me to meet him at the coliseum, where he surveyed the damage. There was about a foot of water on the floor. Jensen asked if I thought that the Homecoming dance should be canceled, and, of course, I agreed. I thought it was good of him to ask.
One unfortunate memory about the coliseum is the moniker “Gill” for Slats Gill. Slats Gill would never bring any Black player on his teams. Tommy Prothro began integrating the (highly) successful football teams in the early ’60s, and the disparity was notable.
—Mike Burton, ’63
Editor’s note: Mike isn’t alone in noting the racial makeup of Slats Gill’s basketball teams. In 2017, the university engaged scholars and the OSU community to consider renaming campus buildings with namesakes who may have held racist or exclusionary views. Following a deep research dive, it was determined that Gill had made attempts — though unsuccessful ones — to recruit more Black players. After conversations with university students, alumni and faculty, the Gill name remains. Learn more.
An OSU Mountain Club patch from the 1980s, shared by alumnus Allen Sanderson.
I read with interest the Backstory article about the OSU Mountain Club. I only wish the article had featured more of its history as the club and Outdoor Program, which grew out of the Mountain Club, have been an important part of many a student’s time at Oregon State.
As a student at OSU (1982-1985) I worked at and led trips for the Outdoor Program. During a spring cleaning we located several scrapbooks from the Mountain Club which are now part of the OSU Special Collections. The scrapbooks highlighted not only trips and outings but also social events.
Oregon State produced not only outstanding climbers but also some outstanding leaders in the outdoor world.
I would be remiss not to mention that Oregon State produced not only outstanding climbers, but also some outstanding leaders in the outdoor world. Roger Robinson, ’76, was a Denali mountaineering ranger for almost 40 years and developed an approach to removing garbage and human waste from glaciers that is the standard today. Matt Hyde, ’85, in addition to holding executive positions at REI and West Marine, was a member of the board of directors for the Outdoor Industry Association and the Access Fund.
—Allen Sanderson, ’85
Help us explore the weird and wonderful ways that food technology and trends have changed by sharing your memories for the next Stater food issue. Whether you favored a particular snack or beverage on game days, learned canning in the Home Economics Building or threw groovy fondue parties at your off-campus house, let us know! We’re particularly curious about vintage cooking tools — like this 1910s toaster from a Milam Hall storeroom — and your OSU stories about them. Email us at stater@osualum.com or write to Oregon Stater, OSU Alumni Association, 204 CH2M HILL Alumni Center, Corvallis, OR 97331.
Photo by Dave McFarland
Send letters and comments by email to stater@osualum.com or fill out the form here. We edit for clarity, brevity and factual accuracy. Please try to limit your letters to 225 words or less.
By Keith Hautala, Cathleen Hockman-Wert, Scholle McFarland & Rachel Robertson
By Tyler Hansen
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