Family ties

Lauren PaxDavid Mader is a proud Miami University alumnus from the class of 1981. But he's not like many other Miami alums. He is one of 19 family members who have attended Miami.The Mader family's legacy offers a different kind of Miami history, past the glossy admission pamphlets, a history more personal and familiar to alumni and current students.This family legacy began in 1905 when Mader's grandfather and his sisters moved to an Oxford farm where they raised dairy cattle and honey bees. David Mader's grandfather and his sisters attended McGuffey School and graduated from Miami. His grandfather, Raymond McDaniel King, graduated in 1926 while Raymond's sister, Elsie, graduated in 1923 and Mary in 1925. And that's just the beginning. "My grandma Mader happened to be in attendance at the same time as my grandpa King and knew each other while there," David Mader said. "They didn't know then that their children would marry and continue this legacy." Mader family parents, aunts, cousins and children all flooded Miami's brick buildings in the years to come. David Mader said his aunt and uncles were all at Miami at the same time and all knew each other. He said his aunt and uncle both took horseback riding. Twenty years later, Mader's sister took the class with the same professor.And while the Mader family case is rare, legacies are not uncommon at Miami. In recent years, about 33 percent of every incoming class has some sort of family connection at Miami, according to Jen Herman, senior associate director for the Office of Admission.Many students have a variety of ties to the university, even if not through blood relation."Guys I went to school with have kids that are friends with my kids now," David Mader said. "My daughter is even best friends with one of my fraternity brother's daughters." Ann Larson, senior associate director of the Office of Admission, attributed continuing Miami legacies to alumni's sentimental attachment to the university."I would just imagine that it has to do with the rich experience we hear from the alums," Larson said. "The positive experience they had at the university is prevalent with alums, so they're great advocates for Miami." Looking at present with pastDavid Mader, Sr. said he draws a comparison between 1981, the year he graduated, with 2009, the year his son will graduate. "Even when I was there, we were going through a recession," David Mader, Sr. said. "It was a tough time to get a job, much like now. The year that I graduated was similar to what is going on now with employment opportunities and the economy." Mary Ellen King Hall, David Mader, Sr.'s aunt, attended Miami from 1958 to 1959, Miami's sesquicentennial year when Robert Frost was Miami's poet-in-residence. Hall also noted the hard economic times and the university. "I don't know how they're (Miami) doing economically, but everyone is struggling," Hall said. "I love Miami, I hope it keeps its head above water."Despite the economy, David Mader, Sr. said the Miami of today is better than when he went to school."It's better in a lot of aspects," he said. "As far as academics, I think they're doing a great job. The students are much more competitive and committed to their studies than my generation." Miami legacy doesn't stop and end with alumni. Many professors are approaching 30 years of teaching with the university and like the Maders, have seen the university's additions and subtractions.James Brock, professor of economics, said he has noticed a major change in the university climate since coming here in 1979. "When I first came here, Miami seemed to offer private college quality at public college price and tuition," Brock said. "We seem to have moved away from this. It amounts to effectively saying, 'Come to Miami - our classes are just as awful as at OSU, but our tuition is a lot higher.'" Brock said he is concerned faculty research continues to be overstressed at the expense of undergraduate teaching and students end up shortchanged.Dennis Sullivan, a professor of economics, started teaching at Miami in 1973 and said he has noticed in increase in the students on campus. He said he remembers when the parking garage was an open field where people could play intramural sports."The campus has grown substantially," Sullivan said. "There was a lot of open space that has been taken up by buildings and cars." Another major change Sullivan said he has seen since 1973 is the increase in female students. "The business school was overwhelmingly male when I came here," Sullivan said. "The noticeable thing is that women are much more academically and athletically integrated. There's something much more akin to gender equality than when I came on campus." Despite size, social and classroom shifts, Sullivan said Miami students are in essence, the same."Miami is in some ways a traditional place," Sullivan said. "Students that come here are students who value a sense of history and tradition."Looking at present with pastDavid Mader, Sr. said he draws a comparison between 1981, the year he graduated, with 2009, the year his son will graduate. "Even when I was there, we were going through a recession," David Mader, Sr. said. "It was a tough time to get a job, much like now. The year that I graduated was similar to what is going on now with employment opportunities and the economy." Mary Ellen King Hall, David Mader, Sr.'s aunt, attended Miami from 1958 to 1959, Miami's sesquicentennial year when Robert Frost was Miami's poet-in-residence. Hall also noted the hard economic times and the university. "I don't know how they're (Miami) doing economically, but everyone is struggling," Hall said. "I love Miami, I hope it keeps its head above water."Despite the economy, David Mader, Sr. said the Miami of today is better than when he went to school."It's better in a lot of aspects," he said. "As far as academics, I think they're doing a great job. The students are much more competitive and committed to their studies than my generation." Miami legacy doesn't stop and end with alumni. Many professors are approaching 30 years of teaching with the university and like the Maders, have seen the university's additions and subtractions.James Brock, professor of economics, said he has noticed a major change in the university climate since coming here in 1979. "When I first came here, Miami seemed to offer private college quality at public college price and tuition," Brock said. "We seem to have moved away from this. It amounts to effectively saying, 'Come to Miami - our classes are just as awful as at OSU, but our tuition is a lot higher.'" Brock said he is concerned faculty research continues to be overstressed at the expense of undergraduate teaching and students end up shortchanged.Dennis Sullivan, a professor of economics, started teaching at Miami in 1973 and said he has noticed in increase in the students on campus. He said he remembers when the parking garage was an open field where people could play intramural sports."The campus has grown substantially," Sullivan said. "There was a lot of open space that has been taken up by buildings and cars." Another major change Sullivan said he has seen since 1973 is the increase in female students. "The business school was overwhelmingly male when I came here," Sullivan said. "The noticeable thing is that women are much more academically and athletically integrated. There's something much more akin to gender equality than when I came on campus." Despite size, social and classroom shifts, Sullivan said Miami students are in essence, the same."Miami is in some ways a traditional place," Sullivan said. "Students that come here are students who value a sense of history and tradition."Pre