Brigham Young University

Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah -- photographed for this blog entry by Carson Dover, an alumnus of the school (BS, MS) -- has an especially scenic campus. As one observer noted, "pretty much the entire BYU campus is surrounded by the Rocky Mountains' Wasatch Range." Carson is now a new graduate student with us at Texas Tech University and he kindly took these photos for the blog.

The mountains also frame the Wilkinson Student Center...

... the new Engineering Building (which opened circa 2019)...

... the entry to the Harold B. Lee Library ...

... and this plaza of blooming trees.

One additional aspect of the location is the presence of "Y Mountain," a half-mile from campus and shown at this link. According to the linked article:

Preparations for placing the initials BYU on the mountainside began in April of 1906 when president George H. Brimhall commissioned surveyors for the letters "B," "Y" and "U." The letter "Y" was first laid out to insure that the initials were properly centered on the mountain. Beginning in the early morning, students formed a line that zigzagged up the mountainside. Standing eight feet apart, each student would carry a load of lime powder up to the next person and then return for another. 

Officials expected to complete laying out all three letters by 10 a.m. By 4 p.m., only the Y was covered. After such a laborious day of work, plans to fill in the other two letters were scrapped.

Other important structures on the BYU campus include the Spiral Walkway (seen from overhead at this link)...

... the Tree of Wisdom (which has been relocated and rebuilt a few times)...

... and the Visitors Center...

Ultimately, though, as proclaimed on this university sign, "The world is our campus."

Fresno State University

One of our Texas Tech graduate students, Emma Willis-Grossmann, visited her undergraduate alma mater Fresno State University earlier this spring. While there, she photographed the university's architectural award-winning library and she was kind enough to share her photos. Here are two perspectives on the library, one without and one with the intense California sun!

According to the Fresno State library website, the stunning feature we see above is "the Table Mountain Rancheria Tower, which is a striking five-story elliptical tower of glass, steel and angled-wood lattice that symbolizes a twined Native American basket."

Baylor University

Lubbock sportscaster and all-around good guy Mike Gustafson traveled to Waco in mid March to do radio for the Texas Tech at Baylor baseball series and was kind enough to take photos of the Baylor campus. 

The following picture of the Mark & Paula Hurd Welcome Center seems like a good one with which to welcome readers to this photo essay...

Another prominent structure on college campuses is the library. Here is Moody Library (part of the main Moody and Jones research libraries, which have a Starbucks!).

Professors presumably can get their nourishment at the McMillan-Connelly Faculty Center...

Some of the academic buildings include the Baylor Fine Arts Center...

McCrary Music Building...

and the Baylor Sciences Building...

Russell Hall, divided into a North and a South area, is a residential complex. North Russell has become known of late as a home for international students...

Next is Harrington House, which has served a number of different purposes at the university over the years.

With Baylor being a religiously affiliated institution, two major campus buildings are the Truett Theological Seminary...

and Miller Memorial Chapel...

Finally, a campus-photo ensemble from Mike wouldn't be complete without a shot of the baseball stadium...