This Bush May Not Be President, But He Knows How to Have Fun

An Eagle Scout, football recruit, devoted professional wrestling fan, former Undergraduate Council presidential candidate and definite Quad personality, Michael S. "Mike" Bush '99 has taken root in Cambridge and thrived while maintaining a laid-back attitude.

Bush, a high school wrestler, shot-putter and football player, was one of about five seniors recruited to play college football out of his senior class of approximately 1,200 students at Lakeside High School, a public school outside of Augusta, Georgia.

The 6'1", 255 lb. Bush came to the attention of Harvard football recruiters after a chance meeting with a wrestling coach at Walpole High School. Bush met the coach while working out with the school's wrestling team during a visit to his cousins' Walpole, Mass., home. The Walpole coach passed Bush's name along to Harvard recruiters who requested that Bush send them a tape.

"The rest is history," Bush says.

Bush chose Harvard over other schools such as the Georgia Tech, The Naval Academy, Dartmouth and Brown because "it is Harvard" and because he likes Boston and has relatives in the area. He says his high school generally does not send students to Harvard.

Bush played football his first year at Harvard but had to have back surgery in February of 1996 to correct a problem that began in high school. Though no longer able to play football, Bush served as a team manager for the remainder of his college career.

Involvement in Cabot House activities also took up a good deal of Bush's time.

"[Cabot] is the best," Bush says. "I feel bad for everyone else because they didn't get to live here."

According to former Cabot House Committee Co-chair Joel L. Negin '99, "Mike is a very visible member of the House community. He is out on the Quad a lot, and I'd say that almost everyone knows him for better or for worse."

Bush was involved with the Cabot House Committee for three years and was the Weight Room Czar his junior and senior year. Negin says the position was created with the realization that Bush would be perfect for it.

"Cabot's weight room is spectacular right now in large part due to his help," Negin says.

But what Bush will perhaps be best remembered for by close friends and strangers alike is his relentless pursuit of a good time.

"I just like to have fun," Bush says. "I'm up for anything."

Bush says he has hosted too many parties to count during his time at the College, including two toga parties.

One party/canned-food drive put on by his entryway brought in approximately 500 cans of food which were later donated to a community service organization.

Another activity in which Bush has been known to engage is streaking. "I'm not much into the big, organized streaking," Bush, a one-time Primal Scream participant, says, "I like random occurrences."

Negin said in an e-mail message that Bush "has a certain penchant for late-night, drunken nakedness, either alone or with his roommates, running around the Quad naked on any given night from a Monday afternoon to late Saturday night. This disturbs us and sometimes amuses us."

Bush's roommate of four years William C. "Bill" Ewing '99 says he thinks Bush (or "Bushman," as he is known to his friends and roommates) is well known on campus due largely to his willingness to do anything for a good time.

"I'll do anything if it's fun," Bush says.

Bush's bid for the Undergraduate Council presidency his junior year also increased his name recognition on campus. Bush, who served on the Undergraduate Council for one year, says he decided to jump into the election on the spur of the moment because he was "just sick of the way things were being run."

One of Bush's most memorable campaign tactics was to sit on a throne made of beer cans and one can of Ginger Ale (in recognition of students who do not drink alcohol). After the election (Bush finished third out of seven candidates), the throne was sold at a Cabot House auction and has since been recycled.

Ewing describes being a roommate of Bush by saying, "Sometimes it has been aggravating as hell; sometimes it has been a lot of fun. Most of the time it has been a lot of fun."

"There have been ups and there have been downs, but it has been a memorable ride to say the least," Ewing says.

Does he plan on continuing the tradition of throwing wild parties after college? "I'm gonna always have fun," Bush says, "but not necessarily more parties."

"There's a time and a place for everything," he says. "You have to be more responsible once you leave college."

After graduation, Bush will work for AnswerThink Consulting in Burlington, Mass. He will be putting the skills he learned in three computer science classes to use building databases. He says that he also hopes to volunteer at a zoo such as the Franklin Park Zoo or the New England Zoo. In terms of future career plans, Bush says that in a couple of years he hopes to get a degree in zoology or possibly an MBA. He says that ultimately he hopes to work with animals or computers in a zoo.

Bush says, "I like playing with computers, but you're not outside enough for me."

Ewing says that 15 to 20 years from now Bush "will either be a good, hardworking zoo keeper, or else King Kong Bushman of some professional wrestling association."

Bush says he does not watch professional sports on television with the exception of "professional" wrestling. "[The World Wrestling Federation (WWF)] is where it's at," he says, noting that he watches the WWF every Monday night.

Though he did not write a thesis, Bush will be graduating with honors in biological anthropology and is publishing a paper along with Professor of Anthropology Richard W. Wrangham and Cory L. Costanzo '99 in the journal Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology. The paper, which is about how predation pressures affect baboon group size, grew out of a research seminar Bush took his junior year.

Wrangham, who has known Bush for two years, describes him as an "eager, efficient, cheerful and enthusiastic" student.