Photo Potpourri: Game Day: A look at Manchester University campus

Wednesday, October 8, 2014

Game Day:
A look at Manchester University campus

If you read the history of Manchester University in North Manchester, Ind., you find the institution dates back to the 1800s, starting as a seminary in Roanoke, Ind., before changing its name to Manchester College when it moved to its current location in 1889. This is impressive because the campus has a striking mix of new and well-preserved old buildings, and lots of tall trees.

The campus also is the most compact of those I've visited; I managed to reach most of what I had hoped to photograph in an hour and a half's time. I couldn't get all of my landscape images taken at most other places I've visited in this Game Day project of mine to visit NAIA and NCAA Division II and III colleges and universities in Indiana that field football teams.

Its origin is religion-based, as are many small institutions of higher learning in Indiana, so it was not surprising that, to me, Petersime Chapel is the visual heart of campus. I elected to use a photo of the chapel as the image to lead off this post.

Petersime Chapel is at the south end of a long green mall, opposite Cordier Auditorium. Anchoring one side of the mall is the Funderburg Library and Science Center/Flory Auditorium, while the other is lined by the welcome and academic centers, Wine Recital and Otho Winger Memorial Hall.

The stately administration building is a bit off the campus beaten path, on College Avenue, flanked by Oakwood Hall on one side and Hellman Hall and Wampler Auditorium on the other. By the time I reached Wampler, it occurred to me that Manchester has a lot of auditoriums! All of the buildings I've mentioned here are on the west side of East Street, which serves as a sort of unofficial divider of new and old, and academic and sports/recreation ... with a couple of residence halls thrown in for good measure.

At the heart of the east side of campus is Jo Young Switzer Center, a multi-functional facility that houses the campus store and post office as well as dining services and a snack bar and meeting quarters. There also are the Physical Education and Recreation Center and Stauffer-Wolfe Arena, as well as the outdoor athletic facilities, including tennis courts, football and track fields, baseball and softball diamonds, soccer fields ... and even a mud volleyball court. Standing off away from them all is the Morris Observatory.

And in a parking lot right off East Street, there are a handful of parking spots reserved for electric cars to plug in for charging. That's the spot in the first picture below.

I also am using this post to present some non-game shots from my images taken on the gridiron at Burt Memorial Stadium. These include photos of Spartacus, the name of the Manchester mascot since 2014 (it use to be Sami Spartan).

For a full gallery of shots of the school's campus, visit my site at SmugMug.com.

Above: A sidewalk down the east side of tree-lined East Street.

The welcome center (above) and recital hall (below) are next to each other on East Street, directory across from the Jo Young Switzer Center (second below).

Above: A paved walk directly across East Street from the Jo Young Switzer Center leads pedestrians to the green mall, where one finds the chapel (top of post), Funderburg Library (above) and Cordier Auditorium (below).

Above: A look at the trees and paths at the south end of the green mall. This view looks toward College Avenue and the backside of (I think) the Administration Building.

Above: A closeup of the landscaping and ornamentation in front of Petersime Chapel.

Above: More trees and paths, this time looking east at the south end of the green mall.

Above: The back side of Petersime Chapel.

Above: Still more trees and the side of (I think) the Administration Building.

Alternate views of Funderburg Library (above) and Wine Recital Hall (below).

An example of landscaping in the green mall (above) and the campus map (below).

Above and below: Two views of the Science Hall.

Above: At the opposite end of the parking lot you see in the Science Hall photo above this is this tree, just starting to show autumn colors.

Above: One side of Schwalm Residence Hall.

Above: The back side of Calvin Ulrey Hall, which houses campus health and counseling services and human resource operations, among other things.

Above: Yet another tree shot, looking in the general direction of the green mall from College Avenue.

Above: An access to Hellman Co-Ed Residence Hall along College Avenue.

Above and below: Two views of the Administration Building fronting College Avenue.

Above: The campus Intercultural Center, the hub for the African Students Association, Asian Awareness Association, Black Student Union, Hispanos Unidos and Manchester University International Association.

Above: Oakwood Co-Ed Residence Hall.

Above: Still more trees and paths.

Above: A row of bikes outside of East Hall on the east side of East Street at College Avenue.

Above and below: Two views of the outside of the Physical Education and Recreation Center (PERC) and Stauffer-Wolfe Arena.

Above: A look through the foliage with PERC on the right.

Exiting the PERC, one gets the view above of the campus. When you reach the "Y" portion of the walk above then turn around and look back, you get the view below of PERC on the left.

At the "Y" of the walk extending from PERC (above), the straight-ahead view is of the Jo Young Switzer Center, with a closer backside view of the center below.

If you turn right at the "Y," you'll reach Gratz Field, where the Spartan baseball team plays its home games (below).

Spectators at baseball games can see the back of Burt Memorial Stadium (above) along the right field line. to the left, is the bulk of the campus behind the Gratz Field press box.