Hanover College has the Ohio River overlook, Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology has Speed Lake, and the University of St. Francis in Fort Wayne has Mirror Lake. All three are striking, iconic features of those respective campuses.
Anderson University has a landscape gem of its own, and water has nothing to do with it. At AU they simply call it the Valley, a hilly, beautifully landscaped campus center generously but judiciously bedecked with trees of all varieties.
I was so fascinated with the Valley that I returned to it periodically during my visit so that I could take it in from as many perspectives as possible as I made my way around campus. One of those perspectives is featured in the photo leading off this post, and you'll see a few more among the shots below.
AU is a Christian liberal arts school affiliated with the Church of God and today has about 1,600 students, 1,300 of whom are undergraduates. The school was established in 1917 as the Anderson Bible Training School and has undergone three name changes since — Anderson College and Theological Seminary, Anderson College and finally, in 1988, its current Anderson University. The school hosted the training camp for the NFL’s Indianapolis Colts from 1984-98 and again since 2010.
Anderson University has a landscape gem of its own, and water has nothing to do with it. At AU they simply call it the Valley, a hilly, beautifully landscaped campus center generously but judiciously bedecked with trees of all varieties.
I was so fascinated with the Valley that I returned to it periodically during my visit so that I could take it in from as many perspectives as possible as I made my way around campus. One of those perspectives is featured in the photo leading off this post, and you'll see a few more among the shots below.
AU is a Christian liberal arts school affiliated with the Church of God and today has about 1,600 students, 1,300 of whom are undergraduates. The school was established in 1917 as the Anderson Bible Training School and has undergone three name changes since — Anderson College and Theological Seminary, Anderson College and finally, in 1988, its current Anderson University. The school hosted the training camp for the NFL’s Indianapolis Colts from 1984-98 and again since 2010.
Anderson University offers more than 60 majors in an undergraduate liberal arts program, organized into six schools, and it has graduate programs in theology, music and business. The six schools are the Falls School of Business; the School of Humanities and Behavioral Science; the School of Music, Theatre, and Dance; the School of Nursing and Kinesiology; the School of Theology and Christian Ministry; and the School of Science and Engineering.
The graduate school offers six master’s degrees (business administration, theological studies, divinity, Christian ministry, music education and music leadership) and a doctorate degree in business administration.
I’ve described many campuses I visited on my tour of Indiana small-college campuses as compact; in retrospect, I suppose that should be a given, considering their enrollment sizes. But I think it’s a valid term because most places on the campuses of these institutions are easy to reach, and their accessibility is why buildings are where they are.
At most schools, for example, the library and student union are somewhere along or around the traditional green mall. That is the case at AU, although the Valley and its undulating pathways substitute for the traditional, flat central open green mall.
At AU, athletic facilities — including the keystone athletics teaching facility, Kadetzke Wellness Center (right) — and a handful of residence halls are on the northeast side of campus, north of University Boulevard. One exception is the soccer field, Fridley Field, which is on the south end of campus.
On the Fifth Street side of Decker Hall, the university has an eternal flame (left) that was dedicated in 1992 to commemorate the school’s 75th anniversary. At the time of my visit, AU was preparing centennial observances and activities for 2017.
As always, for a larger and sharper view of a photo in this chapter, click on the image. This is especially helpful for people accessing the blog from a mobile device.
Above and next four below: More views of the Valley.
Above and below: If the Valley is the iconic locale at AU, then the sculpture Helios, surrounded by fountains, is the school's iconic symbol. It was created by AU art professor Arlon Bayliss in 1992 for the university’s 75th anniversary observance. Original plans called for the sculpture to include an eternal flame, but university president James Edwards persuaded Bayliss to make separate creations. Helios overlooks the Valley outside Hartung Hall, while the flame burns eternally on the Fifth Street side of Decker Hall.
Above and below: When you look up inside Kardatzke Wellness Center, you can find these examples of pattern art.
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This statue (above) of AU's first president, John A. Morrison, stands in front of the Welcome Center facing Fifth Street and looks toward Reardon Auditorum (below) across the street. The cast bronze statue was designed by artist-in-residence Kenneth Ryden in 1987 and dedicated on June 13, 1988.
Byrum Hall (above) serves as theater headquarters at AU. The 450-seat facility is used for plays, opera and musicals, such as the production Gypsy being promoted (below) during my visit at the end of September 2016.
Above: The printing on the building’s upper right corner tells you what you need to know.
At AU, athletic facilities — including the keystone athletics teaching facility, Kadetzke Wellness Center (right) — and a handful of residence halls are on the northeast side of campus, north of University Boulevard. One exception is the soccer field, Fridley Field, which is on the south end of campus. A sizable green mall and the equivalent of about two city blocks of physical space separates that area from the rest of campus to the southwest (and south of the boulevard), where the majority of other academic buildings, the fine arts and performance center and, yes, library and student union surround and overlook the Valley.
On the Fifth Street side of Decker Hall, the university has an eternal flame (left) that was dedicated in 1992 to commemorate the school’s 75th anniversary. At the time of my visit, AU was preparing centennial observances and activities for 2017. The flame was originally designed to be part of the Helios sculpture, another campus icon, that is surrounded by fountains and overlooks the Valley outside Hartung Hall. In the end, the school dedicated separate spaces on campus for the flame and sculpture.
I came across various degrees of tailgating at all the colleges during my “tour,” which began in 2009. Schools that seemed to have the most tailgating activity and/or most enthusiastic tailgaters were Wabash, DePauw, Hanover, Taylor and Rose-Hulman. I should note that when I was at Rose-Hulman, it was homecoming weekend, which might account for a good share of the crowd sizes, gatherings and festivities on the grounds that day.
I came across various degrees of tailgating at all the colleges during my “tour,” which began in 2009. Schools that seemed to have the most tailgating activity and/or most enthusiastic tailgaters were Wabash, DePauw, Hanover, Taylor and Rose-Hulman. I should note that when I was at Rose-Hulman, it was homecoming weekend, which might account for a good share of the crowd sizes, gatherings and festivities on the grounds that day.
At Anderson, there were some pregame activities (a couple of inflatable bouncy attractions for children, for example) in a parking lot adjacent to Macholtz Stadium on the day I visited, but I cannot say it was terribly crowded, nor did I see much (if any) traditional tailgating anywhere. If Ravens fans do engage in tailgating on football game days, they do it someplace that I did not come across during my visit. And I guess it is on me for not finding it.
As always, for a larger and sharper view of a photo in this chapter, click on the image. This is especially helpful for people accessing the blog from a mobile device.
Above: For several years I've enjoyed photographing different benches as I come across them. This one and its twin in the background sit outside Kardatzke Wellness Center.
Above: A closeup of foliage in early stages of fall colors just outside Olt Student Center’s entrance from the Valley.
Above: The facade of the York Performance Hall and Galleries, which is adjacent to the Krannert Fine Arts Center.
Above: The steeple on Park Place Church of God, which had housed the university’s music department until Krannert Fine Arts Center opened in 1979. The church still holds occasional university performances, and AU students use the church’s pipe organ for practice.
PAbove: The Church of God Ministries’ world headquarters had been located in this structure on Fifth Street on the Anderson University campus until this spring, when it moved to newer, but smaller quarters off I-69 at Pendleton.
Above: The Falls School of Business is located in this complex along Fifth Street.
Above: One of the arching roof and drainage panels near the dance studio adjacent to O.C. Lewis gymnasium.
Above: The main playing court inside O.C. Lewis Gymnasium.
Above: The walk leading to Smith Hall near the athletic facilities in the northeast part of campus.
Above: Solar panels between the library and School of Theology.
Above: The side of Nicholson Library facing the Valley.
Above and below: Two views of Olt Student Center.
Above: One of the buildings in the York Seminary Apartments on the south end of campus.
Above: The Fifth Street entrance to Hartung Hall.
Above: It didn’t seem right to end this post without one more look at the Valley.
Next up: Chapter 33, Team and school mascots
Previously in Game Day Revisited:
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