In our trivial pursuit, it was discovered that, Berlo, being many years younger than his colleagues and some of his students, perceived himself to be in need of communicating an air of permanence and maturity, so that his position, and that of the newly formed department, would be taken seriously. To this end, he deliberately gained weight…up to 270 pounds of body mass, dressed in dark, fancy suits, and began to act the part of the chairperson of a more well-established department (Rogers, 2001). It must have worked, because he was able to successfully establish, at Michigan State, one of our country’s first undergraduate majors in communication.