Lehigh University (Pennsylvania)

Sothy Eng, who received his Ph.D. with us at Texas Tech and then did a post-doctoral fellowship at UCLA, has settled into his new position at Lehigh University. Sothy is a great photographer and has been kind enough to share some of his work here at America's College Campuses. This recent picture makes Lehigh look Harry Potter-esque. Here are some older pictures, from Sothy's initial visit to Lehigh last December.

Bowling Green State Univ. (Ohio)

Bowling Green State University (BGSU) sits in northwest Ohio, a little over 20 miles south of the city of Toledo. For the last 10 miles of the trip southward, extensive farmland leads down to BGSU.

The University likes to display its initials and Falcon logo throughout campus, via shaped hedges and banners in the school colors of brown and orange.

Many of the academic buildings appear to be undergoing renovation, such as Williams Hall, which hosts a number of social-science disciplines. Note also the brown/orange shade of the bricks.

Much of the campus consists of green spaces, literally as in the case of this lawn...

...along with eye-catching designs such as the huge mural on one side of Jerome Library. Near the library is BGSU's Carillon Bell Tower, which looks similar, in my view, to the one at University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.

Beginning this Fall term, BGSU basketball and other indoor teams will have a new home, the Stroh Center, on the front edge of campus. Immediately in front of the new arena are the Falcon statue (lower left in the following montage) and, in a "green" gesture, a number of parking places reserved for cars with desirable environment properties.



I am used to the campuses and adjoining commercial districts at Midwestern (Big 10) schools such as Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Northwestern, Indiana, and Ohio State being easily walkable. Despite being in the same region as these institutions, BGSU (a member of the Mid-America Conference) seems considerably auto-centric, as a car appears necessary (or at least helpful) to navigate the wide streets and highways surrounding the campus.

UMass Amherst

Nestled in western Massachusetts is UMass Amherst, the flagship of the University of Massachusetts system. Hal Grotevant, a UMass professor, posted some pictures on Facebook that he had taken on campus, and he has kindly agreed to let me repost them here.

In the background is the iconic Old Chapel, a structure that apparently is badly in need of infrastructure repair.

Along with its quaint architecture, UMass also features more modern styles. Shown below is a montage of Tobin Hall, the psychology building.



UMass's W.E.B. Dubois Library, the tallest library in the U.S. at 26 stories, is famous for its falling brick chips. I had read many years ago that engineers had failed to take into account the weight of the books when calculating the physical strength requirements of the floors. The engineering flaw theory, however, may just be an urban legend. I visited UMass Amherst once, in 1996, and there were some areas outside the library that were fenced off to prevent pedestrians from walking where there may be falling brick.

Also in the realm of legends is the Minuteman Statue, shown next. Students apparently find the statue a source of good luck before exams. 

Lastly, we have the Campus Pond, a UMass landmark in warm weather and in cold.



Western Michigan University

This is probably my most minimal entry, as the photos were taken aboard a (mostly) moving train in snowy conditions. Nevertheless, I have a shot of a Western Michigan University athletic facility (University Arena/Read Field House), as well as of the train station in Kalamazoo, Michigan.

Northern Illinois University

Located about an hour west of Chicago is the agricultural town of DeKalb, Illinois, home of Northern Illinois University. One of our Texas Tech doctoral students, Katie Gerst, received her Master's degree at NIU and had some photos of the school that she was willing to share. Shown first is the castle-like Altgeld Hall, the first building on the NIU campus, named in honor of the governor who helped with the founding of the university. Katie photographed Altgeld Hall from two perspectives.

Next is the Holmes Student Center. I think it's somewhat unusual for a student-union building to have a high-rise design (which is even more noticeable on the Center's website), which suggests a lot of office space and meeting rooms, but potentially a shortage of expansive commons areas. There is something called the Sky Room on the 16th floor that looks interesting, however.

The third building, Adams Hall, was a women's dormitory from 1949-1967, until being converting to an administration building.

Gilbert Hall, a residence hall in the past and perhaps on the verge of being restored to that role in the future, is the topic of current construction planning.

Still Hall, at one point a gym, appears to host facilities in media, technology, and engineering.

The Law School's Swen Parson Hall sports a traditional academic look.

Shown last among the campus buildings is Williston Hall; like other buildings seen thus far, Williston was once a dorm and now holds offices.

Finally, every college town should have at least one quirky, colorfully decorated business establishment in the area. Maybe I'm reading too much into the picture, but perhaps the corn stalk symbolizes the human spine, which Dr. Van helps straighten out for his patients.

West Texas A&M (Canyon, TX)

One of our Texas Tech graduate students, Kim Corson, gave me some pictures she took at West Texas A&M University in Canyon, Texas, while traveling in the region (Canyon is roughly two hours north of Lubbock). West Texas A&M had been known until 20 years ago as West Texas State University, before being annexed by the Texas A&M University system. (The flagship of the system is, of course, Texas A&M University in College Station, way in the southeastern portion of the state.)

The athletic mascot for WT A&M is the Buffalo, depicted prominently in this fountain complex (below).

The inverted nature of the fountain -- that water travels down instead of up -- matches the Inverted Fountain at my undergraduate alma mater, UCLA.

What I also found stunning in the WT A&M photos is the clock tower (and its reflection), with which I formed the following little triptych.

Other attractions on the campus, as described to me by Kim, include the Panhandle-Plains Historical Museum...

...with the adjacent T-Anchor Ranch log cabin (which was moved to its present site in 1975)...

...the Wind Engineering complex, which is set to receive the nation's largest wind turbine...

...and finally, this cobblestone-looking building which, according to Kim, was originally a dormitory and is now used for alumni relations.

University of Mississippi

Sarah Dale, one of my former undergraduate students at Texas Tech, posted some pictures on her Facebook page of a family trip to the University of Mississippi. With Sarah's permission, I'm reprinting some of her photos. Ole Miss, as folks commonly refer to the university, is situated in the small town of Oxford, Mississippi. Oxford's population is only 19,000, although according to one of the sources I read, the larger area including surrounding counties has a total population of about 300,000. Any good college town will have an adjacent student-oriented commercial district and Oxford is no exception, with The Square (below).

I assume Square Books actually sells rectangular-shaped books. Also on The Square is the music club, the Lyric Oxford.

Information on The Square in Oxford is available at this link (when the page comes up, scroll down below the hotel information). The following building would certainly fit in architecturally on a college campus, but it actually appears to be the Lafayette County Courthouse.

Attending a football game appeared to be one of the Dale family's main priorities on the trip. Shown below is the Ole Miss Walk of Champions, through which the Rebels proceed into the stadium a few hours before kick-off.

Texas Tech football coach Tommy Tuberville, who previously held the same position at Mississippi, instituted the new "tradition" of Raider Walk upon his arrival earlier this fall in Lubbock. Finally, it's game time at Ole Miss...