It has been 25 years since the Arizona State Sun Devils made it to the Rose Bowl. What has changed since then?
Not only has the Arizona State gone through a lot of changes in that time, but the entire world is different than the last time ASU took on the Big 10 in the 83rd edition of the Rose Bowl.
Now, I was about 4 months old when this game was played but through the power of the internet, I have had a fun time taking a look at what was going on in the world at the time and comparing that to the lives we lead today.
President of the United States
Starting at the very top, the President of the United States on January 1, 1997 was Bill Clinton. His second term was due to begin just a few weeks after the Rose Bowl on January 20.
Clinton had not yet reached the most infamous period of his presidency, namely the impeachment process on charges of perjury in relation to the Monica Lewinsky incident. He would survive the impeachment and carry out his full second term until leaving office in 2001.
Governor of Arizona
The governor of the state of Arizona in early 1997 was Fife Symington (R). The most enduring legacy of his nearly six years in office was the drama surrounding his eventual resignation in September 1997 after being convicted on charges of “extortion, making false financial statements, and bank fraud.”
Symington was pardoned by President Bill Clinton in January of 2001 in the usual string of presidential pardons issued before the end of a presidency.
President of Arizona State University
Leading the Sun Devils of Arizona State University in 1997 was former president Lattie F. Coor who served in that position from 1990 to 2002.
The fifteenth president of the university, Coor grew the school beyond its original campus and was one of the leading voices in encouraging research and undergraduate development. Under his leadership, in 1994, Arizona State University was granted Research I status by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching which opened up a whole new world of research grants and funding that helped propel the school into the future.