Marlin Briscoe becomes pro football’s first Black starting quarterback, leading Denver to a 10–7 win over Cincinnati. Briscoe finishes 4 of 11 passing for 37 yards and rushes twice for 18 yards.
First football game played at Al Caniglia Field vs. Northern Illinois (27–8 loss).
Pulitzer Prize recipient and foreign newspaper correspondent Edgar Ansel Mowrer addresses the Institute on World Affairs, speaking on “his discoveries and observations of conditions in the Far East.”
Four-lane bowling alley in the student center dedicated.
Food Services begins selling “near beer.”
Medical Club organized “to form a closer association between those who are preparing for medicine and heighten the interest of the members in this subject.”
Alumni Association–backed “Quarterback Club,” an OU booster group, meets for the first time at the Fontenelle Hotel; Omaha businessman Roman Hruska is named chairman of the Charter Committee.
OU becomes one of the first NCAA football teams to travel to a game by airplane (in Fremont).
OU fields its first freshman football team, losing 13–7 to Dana College.
Debut of “First Down,” a brown female terrier owned by Tippy Tyler, as the mascot of the Omaha University football team in a 19–6 win over Wayne. First Down wore a white jersey with scarlet and black stripes—previously one of Leo Pearey’s football socks.
OU football team gets stuck on the way to a game against Tarkio College in Missouri. They hitchhike the rest of the way, arriving on cattle trucks. OU wins 6–3.
Walter Payton scores six touchdowns to lead Jackson State to a 75–0 win over UNO.
Former world-record miler Jim Ryun appears at the Oktoberfest Fun Run sponsored by the UNO School of HPER and UNMC in Elmwood Park.
Interim NU President Martin A. Massengale approves doctoral degree programs at UNO.
California U.S. Senator and Republican majority leader William F. Knowland is the first speaker at the third annual World Affairs Institute, speaking on “Paradox of Coexistence.”
Michigan Republican Congressman Gerald R. Ford (speech: “Our Responsibility for the Defense of Our Nation”) and Nebraska Gov. Frank Morrison are guest speakers at an OU convocation celebrating the university’s 53rd anniversary.
Michael Goldwater, youngest son of Republican presidential candidate Barry Goldwater, visits campus in an event hosted by UNO’s Young Republicans.
Marlin Briscoe becomes pro football’s first Black starting quarterback, leading Denver to a 10–7 win over Cincinnati. Briscoe finishes 4 of 11 passing for 37 yards and rushes twice for 18 yards.
Omaha Chamber of Commerce honors past and present OU regents and OU presidents at a public affairs luncheon.
University of Omaha founded.
John Philip Sousa presents OU drum major Evelyn McDonald with an autographed baton during the intermission of his concert at Omaha Technical High School.
Dedication of Honor Roll board listing the names of former students and faculty members serving with the armed forces.
Students vote “Mavericks” as the new mascot name, narrowly defeating “Unicorns.”
Comedian George Carlin performs in the Civic Auditorium Music Hall for 2,000 students at the UNO Homecoming Concert, promoted by the Student Programming Organization.
Fine Arts Building (now Del and Lou Ann Weber FAB) dedicated.
Ribbon-cutting ceremony held for the new Welcome Center, established in the former Hayden House near the Durham Science Center.
Dr. Van R. Potter, a noted enzyme chemist, addresses the university’s Chemistry Club, speaking on cancer.
World-famous sculptor Alexander Archipenko gives an illustrated lecture at convocation. See the entry on Oct. 29, 1939, for a Gateway article related to an Archipenko exhibit held at the university.
Actress and singer Della Reese performs in the Omaha City Music Hall as part of UNO Homecoming.
NFL quarterback-turned-drag racer Dan Pastorini gives a homecoming speech in the Student Center Ballroom.
Maine Senator Owen Brewster speaks at the World Affairs Institute.
“Street Corner USA” airs after visiting campus to discuss Midwest isolationism.
OU hosts six members of the Atlantic Treaty Association, a group that fosters support for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. The group visits students in various classes and also visits Strategic Air Command.
Freddie Freelin, a senior at the university, is killed and six others are injured when their hayrack is struck by a speeding car.
Arthur Bliss Lane, former American ambassador to Poland, speaks at the Institute on World Affairs on “United States Foreign Policy—Right or Wrong.”
Sly and the Family Stone perform for UNO’s Homecoming concert at the Civic Auditorium.
George Will debuts as a speaker in the 1976–1977 ABC Speaker Series.
Nebraska Congressman John Cavanaugh speaks in the Student Center Ballroom, addressing topics such as scattered-site housing, national health insurance, and the Equal Rights Amendment.
OU alum Bob Cahill wins the national television talent show Arthur Godfrey’s Talent Scouts. His vocal solo ties with an accordion selection on the studio applause meter. Cahill is introduced by Vanita Brown, former OU coed and Miss Nebraska, who now works in New York City.
Association presents its first Outstanding Service Awards.
Nebraska Gov. Robert L. Cochran speaks on “Democracy and the Executive” at the Institute of Government lecture series.
Dr. K.C. Wu, former minister of the Chinese Nationalist government, speaks at the World Affairs Institute on “Coexistence in the Future of Asia,” seven months after being expelled from the Kuomintang cabinet for criticizing Chiang Kai-shek.
First athletic contest: OU football defeats Nebraska School for the Deaf, 25–0.
Pulitzer Prize winner Hanson W. Baldwin, military editor of the New York Times, speaks at the World Affairs Institute.
Rudy Haluza finishes fourth in the 20K race walk at the 1968 Mexico City Olympics.
Start of the “Your College Professor Series,” free lectures for OU alumni with OU professors.
Leland E. Traywick is formally inaugurated as Omaha University’s eighth president.
UNO graduate Leo Thorsness receives the Congressional Medal of Honor from President Richard Nixon.
UNO amphitheater, the Castle of Perseverance, is dedicated with designer Andrew Leicester on hand.
The College of Business Administration dedicates Mammel Hall.
David Goitein, minister of Israel to the United States, addresses “Israel’s Role in the Middle East” at a lecture sponsored by the College of Adult Education.
“Spock” — actor Leonard Nimoy — speaks on “A Star Trek Adventure” in Civic Auditorium under SPO sponsorship.
Tom Ford, brother of President Gerald R. Ford, visits campus to campaign for his brother.
First NCAA hockey game played, vs. Manitoba at Civic Auditorium.
Owen Lattimore, former political advisor to Chiang Kai-shek and director of the Walter Hines Page School of International Relations at Johns Hopkins University, is guest speaker at the Institute of World Affairs.
Dr. Orient Lee, Chinese historian and teacher, addresses the Institute on World Affairs on “China’s Present Struggle.”
OU Alumni Association Secretary Dale Agee loses a bet on Homecoming reservations and begins 24 hours sitting cross-legged in front of a TV on the lawn in front of the Administration Building, dressed in an Indian costume and waving to passersby on Dodge Street.
Georgia State Legislator and Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee founder Julian Bond and conservative, nationally syndicated columnist James J. Kilpatrick speak at the Student Center on “New Politics: Myth or Reality.”
Count Basie and his orchestra perform at Peony Park for OU's Homecoming Dance.
KYNE (Channel 26) goes on the air.
One-man show Leon Redbone and flutist Tim Weisberg perform for the Homecoming concert in the Civic Auditorium Music Hall. The concert is a day late because equipment trucks had not arrived on time.
OU loses to the Grand Island football team, 73–0.
OU student writes the school song, later officially adopted by the school.
OU night watchman Sam Cornett, 21, is shot at by a burglar attempting to open a safe in the OU bursar’s office.
Winnipeg, Manitoba, Mayor John Queen speaks at the university about the war.
OU student Pat Vogel, member of Angels’ Flight, is voted Miss Omaha Aviation by the Junior Chamber of Commerce.
Omaha University field debuts at 24th St. and Ames Avenue adjoining OU’s grounds; Cardinals lose 20–0 to Grand Island College Zebras.
Omaha Fire Department, Station No. 22, rescues a football kicked into a poplar tree by freshman football coach Leon Fouts. The station lays 200 feet of hose through several backyards and sprays the ball out of the tree.
Nuclear weapons expert Dr. Henry Kissinger speaks on campus at the first meeting of the Institute of World Affairs.
Father Dermot Doran, first organizer of food and supply airlifts into a blockaded Biafra (Nigeria), speaks at the Conference Center in an appearance co-sponsored by the Newman Club and Student-Alumni Project.
Larry Linville — Frank Burns (“Ferret Face”) from TV show MASH* — speaks in Milo Bail Student Center.
Nuclear physicist and Manhattan Project team member Edward Teller lectures.
Melissa Manchester hosts the UNO Homecoming Concert, held in Civic Auditorium Music Hall under the sponsorship of the Student Programming Organization.
Jaron Lanier, computer scientist, contributing editor for Wired magazine, and pioneer in virtual reality, discusses “Technology and the Future of the Human Soul” at the ABC Breakfast Series presented by UNO.
OU football loses 46–0 to DePaul at Wrigley Field.
OU President Rowland Haynes is elected president of the 36-member Association of Urban Colleges.
World Champion billiards player Willie Mosconi holds an exhibition in the student center.
Louis Falco Dance Company performs at the Performing Arts Center.
Dr. V. Royce West speaks at Joslyn Memorial on “I Taught Under Hitler.” Head of OU’s Department of Foreign Languages, he had taught at Heidelberg University.
Renowned bandleader Artie Shaw visits campus for Homecoming, riding into Benson Stadium in an army jeep with Homecoming Princess Margie Litherbury, leading the Morningside band in the national anthem and receiving the honorary title of “Chief Taloa Ikhanachi” (music master).
President Milo Bail becomes the first educator to rule the mythical realm of Quivera when crowned King Ak-Sar-Ben LXI.
Four OU faculty members address the Nebraska State Teachers Association district convention in Omaha.
Bobby Vinton performs at the Civic Auditorium Music Hall as the Homecoming act.
An early snowstorm destroys trees throughout Omaha, including 83 on UNO’s campus. The cost to replace the trees, $141,950, is covered by insurance.
Australian singer Morris Barr sings at a special convocation.
Writer and editor Norman Cousins speaks at the World Affairs Institute on “The Realities of Coexistence.”
Parolees from San Quentin Prison are on campus for three days, performing The Cage and conducting a penal reform workshop.
OU receives word of a $414,000 grant from the Public Works Administration toward the building program for a new campus.
World-renowned artist Alexander Archipenko exhibits drawings, paintings, and sculpture at the university. See the entry for Oct. 9, 1950, for a Gateway article related to Archipenko’s lecture on campus.
First TV broadcast from OU campus: OU vs. St. Ambrose football game (OU loses 60–26).
Feminist attorney Sara Weddington and conservative commentator Phyllis Schlafly debate the Equal Rights Amendment and other topics.
A group of OU football players asks President Rowland Haynes to fire Football Coach Sed Hartman. A team meeting with Hartman the next day appeases the players.
Apollo 15 astronaut Col. James Irwin speaks to 100 people in the Student Center.
OU Regents vote to move the university to a 30-acre site west of the Dodge Street entrance to Elmwood Park.
9-year-old piano prodigy Robert “Sugar Chile” Robinson of Detroit visits OU and takes an IQ test administered by Professor W.H. Thompson, director of the Child Study Service.