Impress your classmates with this knowledge

Credit: DKS Editors

Each fall, groups of freshmen students set aside full days to navigate campus together, searching for friends’ residence halls and the buildings where their classes are held. In the days before school starts, students plan where they will meet up with friends in between classes and attempt to map out the shortest route from Intro to Psychology to College Writing I.

Perhaps you are one of these students this year. Maybe you have gotten lost five times looking for the Student Center and are finding it impossible to locate downtown Kent in relation to the residence hall you are staying in.

Yet, by the end of your time here, you will know the campus map like the back of your hand. You will walk by Lowry Hall and know it is the oldest building on campus. You will pass the ROTC building and know you are only a minute’s walking distance from a Polar Pop at Circle K.

Kent State probably won’t feel like your hometown overnight, but perhaps, after reading this article, you will know a little more about some of the largest, oldest, most expensive and most historical buildings on campus.

To help you out with your early days of navigation, here is an annotated map of the Kent State campus.

Don’t forget these facts:

1.The Scenic Beauty – Located two miles east of main campus, the Kent State University Golf Course is often forgotten about. The course was added to the campus map in 1971, and the university’s men’s and women’s golf teams practice there. Course curator Michael Morrow said the scenic beauty of the course is different for everyone who experiences it.

“The golf course is unique as any,” Morrow said. “The railroad tracks separate the front nine (holes) from the back nine, and we offer very low rates for Kent State students.”

2.The Wise Old Man- Lowry Hall, home of the department of anthropology, is the oldest building on campus. Nicknamed “Walden,” when it was first completed in 1912, it was the university’s first dormitory and housed female students of the Kent Normal School.

3.The History Buff- Generating hundreds of visitors per year, Taylor Hall is Kent State’s most historically significant building. It was dedicated to journalism professor William Taylor in 1967. On May 4, 1970, the National Guard responded to a student demonstration against the Vietnam War, leading to 13 seconds of rifle fire that left four students dead, one paralyzed and eight wounded. Taylor Hall is the future site of the May 4 Visitor’s Center.

4.The Long-Distance Learner- Opened to the public in 1920, the Kent State Airport in Stow is the farthest building from the main campus. It was used in 1917 during World War I to land planes coming from Canada to the United States. Kent State University purchased the airport in 1943. For a complete timeline of the KSU airport, go to http://www.kent.edu/airport/History/index.cfm

5.The Technology Guru- Franklin Hall first opened in 1926 as a teacher’s education building. After a complete renovation and a 20,000 sq. ft addition, Franklin Hall, now home to the School of Journalism and Mass Communication, is equipped with an HD television production studio, interactive classrooms and a state-of-the-art converged newsroom. News is constantly broadcast from the plasma screen televisions mounted to the walls on the first and second floor. To view a video documentary about Franklin Hall, go to http://streamer.jmc.kent.edu/jmc/franklin.mp4

-Information from the University Library Special Collections

Contact building and grounds reporter Samantha Laros at [email protected].