Figures of “The Athlete” and “The Student”
Michael Thomas Murphy
Description
Physical Description:
Flanking the east entrance of Michigan Union, the "athlete" looks towards the playing fields in the south while the 'student' looks towards central campus. The athlete wears gym shorts, an athletic sleeveless shirt, accentuating his athletic physique, and a towel around his shoulder. Behind the athlete are sports paraphernalia, including a basketball and a lacrosse racket. The student wears a traditional graduation gown, with his cap in one hand and a book in the other.
Irving Pond wrote that these heroic figures of men, not boys, "suggest the wisdom and desirability of carrying on into maturity the activities and accomplishments of school days, when the world was fresh and ministered to mind and body; thus, they symbolize the continuation of the normal functions of study and recreation, work and play, into and throughout the period of active life."
Usage Rights:
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