For most people, Sept. 5, 2003, was just like any other fall Friday. But for many of the people who gathered at the University of Wisconsin’s Memorial Union that afternoon, it was a profound and sublime experience.

Students gathered and read the first chapters of their newly purchased textbooks at the Terrace, on the shore of Lake Mendota. Children skipped along the shore, chasing ducks and throwing stones. On the lake, a few of the Union’s neighbors windsurfed or swam under the beautiful and temperate September sun. Union employees set up tables as crowds of taste-testers and television crews assembled for the sampling of the ice-cream contestants for a commemorative flavor from Babcock Dairy, celebrating the Union’s 75th anniversary.

But perhaps the most transcendent aspect of this particular Friday was that this unique atmosphere is customary at the Memorial Union.

“I don’t think there’s a union in the world that has such a seamless mixture of faculty, students and members of the community,” Wisconsin Union director Mark Guthier said. “That day was a vivid example of what the Union is. The sense of excitement that was out there, the people lined up to taste the ice cream and, then, maybe spend a few hours relaxing on the Terrace.”

This weekend, Memorial Union will celebrate its 75th birthday and kick-off a year-long celebration commemorating the milestone.

Guthier said he will particularly remember seeing his own family at the Terrace that Friday, when students not yet stressed by exams mingled with people ranging from age two to 99 as they enjoyed free ice cream.

For the last two years, Guthier has been the director of the Wisconsin Union, an enterprise that encompasses the Memorial Union, Union South and a myriad of food-service stations in UW campus buildings, such as Ingraham Deli.

Guthier said a number of Big Ten universities built student unions as memorials after World War I, in order to honor alumni who were veterans of foreign wars, but they also use the memorial concept as a fundraising initiative. Purdue, Iowa and Guthier’s alma mater, Indiana, all have their own Memorial Unions.

When the UW building first opened a third of a century ago on Oct. 5, 1928, impressive ceremonies lasted three days. This was a sweet reward for a student body that had worked for almost two decades to see such a facility on campus.

The new Renaissance-style building shone inside and out with new furnishings, but it came with an expensive price tag. The Union already had a $400,000 equipment mortgage and $119,000 in bank debt. Union supporters began to question the viability, in particular the profitability, of such a large union.

But those worries were quickly assailed as the Union did brisk business in its first year, with 3,900 visitors daily. Originally, the memorial facilities were not open to women, who spent most of their time at the Union-run Lathrop Hall Parlors and Tea Room. But because women had contributed so much to the foundation of the Union, and because they were sorely missed, the “men only” signs were quickly removed.

During World War II, 2,000 Army and Navy men were fed three meals a day in the Union’s two dining rooms every day of the year.

Despite standing as a memorial to veteran students, the Union is able to maintain a vibrant attitude today.

“One of the things that keeps us going is that historically, when the building was dedicated in 1928, nine of the 15 members of the governing board were students,” Guthier said. “It’s hard-wired into our being to constantly be young and evolving because we’re a memorial to the students.”

Guthier said he believed that with the Union’s food venders, study areas and thousands of programs, it was impossible for a UW student to find nothing of personal interest in the Union. Guthier’s comment falls in line with Time Magazine’s 1948 description of the Union: “It’s almost impossible not to have a good time at Wisconsin.”

The anniversary celebration will start this weekend and last until June 2004. On Oct. 5, the winner of the ice-cream contest will be announced and free birthday cake will be served during the Packer game halftime in the Rathskeller.

Other events include the opening of the Lakefront on Langdon restaurant sometime in January or February 2004, Alumni Weekend in May 2004 and a Union Open House in June 2004.