The Block "M" on the Diag

The Block M seal on the Diag has long been a noted landmark on the University campus. Located on the walk in front of the Hatcher Graduate Library, It has long been a designated spot to meet with friends, or even a place marked with superstition (If you walk over the seal prior to taking an exam, you would be sure to fail). In the U-M's earlier days, it was also a place of contention in the rivalry between freshmen and sophomores (freshmen were not allowed to set foot in any part of the circle surrounding the block M, or suffer the consequences).

Just when did this now well-loved campus tradition come into being? According to an article in the Oct. 4, 1952 issue of Michigan Alumnus, it came about when what is now the Hatcher Graduate Library was built in the early 1920s and the campus diagonal was extended to include the area in front of the building. A Plant Department's master-mason, Perry Kimbel, who was working at the area, decided he wanted to leave something to show the best of his workmanship with the University. So, in 1922, working with brick and mortar, Kimbel created a block U-M within a circular pattern in front of the newly built library. There it stayed, becoming known as the "seal," a campus fixture and tradition until 1952, when due to the passage of time and thousands of feet, a new walkway needed to be laid. Once again, the Plant Department was called in, and with pick and shovel, the seal was dismantled. But some traditions are firmly embedded at the U-M, so the class of 1953 remedied the loss with a brass block M, that has retained all the traditions of the first seal, and as far as recent students and University community members are concerned, the block M on the diag has always been a permanent fixture.