UM marked the 100th birthday of Mike Mansfield, Montana’s most revered statesman, with a March celebration. Among the prominent speakers during the three-day campus event were Thomas Foley, the 49th speaker of the U.S. House; George McGovern, a former South Dakota senator and 1972 U.S. presidential candidate; and Don Oberdorfer, a former Washington Post correspondent and Mansfield’s biographer.

In October 2003, UM hosted a reception to premiere Oberdorfer’s book, “Senator Mansfield: The Extraordinary Life of a Great American Statesman and Diplomat,” in the grand room named in his honor in the nation’s Capitol. Scores of alumni joined esteemed senators past and present to remember UM's most accomplished alumnus. In November Mansfield’s magnificent lifelong contributions to politics and peace and his unfaltering work to strengthen bonds between the United States and Asia were once again celebrated with campus events based on his new biography.

Of what two crimes was Socrates accused at the age of 70? Last year western Montana high school students answered this question and many more to win scholarships in the first season of Brain Busters, a televised academic bowl sponsored by UM and its affiliated campuses. The second season geared up in September 2003 by expanding the show to eastern Montana. Sixty-four teams from all over Montana will compete this fall and advance to the second round early next year. Last year’s second-place team members each won $500 scholarships, while the winning team’s members each received $3,000 scholarship offers.

The ante has been increased for the 2003-04 season. The statewide runner-up and championship team members each will be offered $2,000 and $5,000 scholarships to the UM campus of their choice.

Shows are aired on weekends on Montana NBC stations.

A deluge of national media exposure began with a Sunday edition of the New York Times featuring UM’s “Up With Montana” as one of the most unique and humorous collegiate fight songs.

UM also made the cut for top 10 schools in Spin magazine’s “College Life 101: Your Survival Guide,” with an article that began: “If you like bears in your city parks and full access to winter sports, welcome to Missoula (pop. 57,000), home of (UM).”

In September 2003, Outside Magazine ranked UM No. 15 in the nation on its list of universities that combine academic quality with abundant opportunities for outdoor recreation.

Kaplan’s “Unofficial, Unbiased Guide to the 328 Most Interesting Colleges” ranked UM among the top “schools that attract high school class presidents.” Meanwhile, The Princeton Review included UM in its 2003 edition of “The Best 351 Colleges,” quoting student comments that “Missoula is one of the best places to be: friendly people, supportive faculty, a great sense of community, fantastic educational opportunities and beautiful, beautiful scenery.”

UM also was ranked among the review’s “Best in the West” college picks.

Special Olympics athletes of all ages felt what it was like to be a Grizzly gridder for a brief time in May, when campus was the site for the state summer games. UM hosted the Olympic Village as an entertainment center for special athletes and their coaches to relax and recreate. With “The Grizzly Experience” as the village’s theme, UM Griz football players helped guests try on jerseys and helmets for size, while other special athletes joined UM basketball players in shooting hoops and exchanging high-fives with Monte. Visitors even entered the village through the giant, inflatable helmet from which the team enters the football field during home games at Washington-Grizzly Stadium. The village featured other games with Grizzly hats, balls and T-shirts as prizes, as well as a host of entertainers from the Missoula community. This was the first in UM’s three-year commitment to host the Olympic Village.

Big-hearted donors from the Missoula and University communities contributed almost $95,000 in the 2003 Missoula HeartWalk. For the third year running, the UM campus hosted the walk as a means to showcase cutting-edge heart research being conducted by UM faculty members and students.

UM walkers raised more than any other business or organization, contributing almost $15,000 to the total, which will fund heart disease and stroke research and education.

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