'Ruler' of Marchantia's infamous visit

Many people at the university, the Buffalo airport and especially The Buffalo News, can recall the infamous visit of the Thallus of Marchantia. It began with an innocent notice Dec. 15, 1964 in The News, noting that the Arabian potentate would arrive the next day at the airport at 1:48 p.m.

What they didn't know was that the Thallus (which means stem) of Marchantia (a liverwort, not a country) was UB student Arthur Schein, (a prankster, not a sultan).

A horde of UB students, put at between 700 and 2,000, including a bugler, were at the airport to "protest" the visit of the supposedly evil Thallus. When the bugler played "charge," the students did, cracking a pane of glass, breaking some ashtrays and pushing over a snow fence.

The hoodwinked News, the next day accused "1,000 State University of Buffalo students (of) wrecking furniture, jostling innocent bystanders and generally turning the Greater Buffalo International Airport into a frightening mob scene." For all of The News' indignation, however, none of the bystanders was reported injured and the damage was revised down to $600.

The so-called Thallus, whisked away in a Cheektowaga police car, was charged with disorderly conduct and fined $50. Richard Siggelkow, who was dean of students at the time, indefinitely suspended Schein, but not before posting his bail and putting him up for the night. Schein's conviction by lower courts was later reversed, and the student body coughed up the $600.

The Reporter thanks UB Archives for their assistance in obtaining background information and photos for the Sesquicentennial Time Capsules.