The 800-acre campus of Earlham College on the southwest side of Richmond, Ind., has many red brick structures — some contemporary enough to reflect the interesting angles and shapes you find in modern architecture.
And Earlham has a core pedestrian green circular mall and quadrangle (the school refers to it as “the heart.”)
Earlham's 680 students, as well as its faculty and administrators, traverse the quadrangle, a tree-rich network of access options, to reach any of almost a dozen nearby academic or residence hall buildings.
One residence facility, Earlham Hall, pictured in the photo leading off the post, sits prominently at the south end of the mall. Its original structure, which opened in 1855, was rebuilt in 1957 after a devastating fire.
One residence facility, Earlham Hall, pictured in the photo leading off the post, sits prominently at the south end of the mall. Its original structure, which opened in 1855, was rebuilt in 1957 after a devastating fire.
Earlham Hall looks large and stately enough to be an academic building, and as it turns out, the first floor is used for various student services, including health, counseling and security. Student housing is on the second through fourth floors. It connects to the Runyan Center for student activities and dining facilities.
But perhaps I'm getting ahead of myself. If you approach the school from the main entrance off the National Road (U.S. 40), you get a terrific, quiet transition drive through another green area with sporadic trees.
But perhaps I'm getting ahead of myself. If you approach the school from the main entrance off the National Road (U.S. 40), you get a terrific, quiet transition drive through another green area with sporadic trees.
On the other hand, if you happen to approach the school from College Avenue along its eastern border, as I did, you first encounter the School of Religion and Bethel Theological Seminary, which are interestingly set off from the rest of the campus.
Earlham offers about 40 majors and 40 minors (and 12 applied minors) toward earning Bachelor of Arts degrees. It also offers Master of Arts in Teaching (M.A.T.) and Master in Education (M. Ed) degrees and has an affiliated graduate seminary, the Earlham School of Religion, which offers three master’s degrees — divinity, ministry and religion.
Earlham boasts an endowment of $474,820,554 as of 2024, the second most for a small, private college or university in all of Indiana, behind only DePauw, according to College Raptor.
Unlike other campuses, parking is impressively plentiful and sprinkled throughout the campus, making it easy to get to places if you have to make multiple stops on the grounds.
The college’s predominant brick structures have beautiful exteriors, and the only one that struck me as in need of possible upgrading is Lilly Library. The library was built in 1953, and even though there was additional construction 40 years later, it struck me as lacking a place of prominence on campus. Most schools make their library a centerpiece structure (Butler University’s Irwin Library, Taylor University’s Zondervan Library and University of Indianapolis’ Krannert Memorial Library come to mind).
I wanted to inspect the inside of the Athletics and Wellness Center, which was open the Saturday I was there, but you needed a student ID card to get in. That was unfortunate, because it looked like a splendid facility to photograph.
Earlham’s Darrell Beane football stadium (which also is used for field hockey and soccer) is a relatively new facility (2007), and its FieldTurf surface is only four years old. My only nit about it was that there were no trees nearby to prove shade for cover on hot days. (For a detailed report on the status of football at Earlham College, please refer to the bottom portion of the text in Chapter 29 of this series.)
The only parts of campus I didn't make it to were the baseball, soccer and field hockey facilities and equestrian center on the far south end (referred to the as the “back campus”). I didn't spend nearly as much time exploring the Center for the Visual and Performing Arts as I had hoped and/or wanted.
To view a full gallery of images from my campus shoot, follow the link in this sentence.
Above: One of several interesting bay concrete rounds I saw on a residence hall.
Above and next two below: Residence halls and their facilitation of environmentally friendly mobile transportation.
Above and next several below are examples of the splendid landscaping you'll find on campus. Many of these were in the quadrangle (“the heart”) at the center of campus.
The scenes immediately above and below were from the green area at the north end of campus by the main entrance.
Above: This view to the west from in front of Stout Meeting House overlooks Earlham Cemetery, which is outside of campus.
Above: A view north toward the main entrance from the quadrangle.
Above and below: Spot plantings between Runyan Center and the Center for Visual and Performing Arts.
Noyes (above) and Dennis (below) halls, with the Joseph Moore Natural Science Museum to the right of Dennis Hall.
A bloom (above) from a plant near Dennis Hall, and ornamental grass (below) along the west side of Landrum Bolling Center for Interdisciplinary and Social Studies.
Above: A monument in front of Stout Meetinghouse. In 1660, Mary Dyer, a Quaker, was punished by hanging in Boston for her belief in religious freedom.
Above and below: Front facades of the School of Religion and seminary.
Above: Virginia Cottage, near the religious studies section of the campus, houses the Newlin Center for Quaker Thought and Practice and the Office of Religious Life.
Above: A forgotten pair of sunglasses on a bench south of the quadrangle proved to be a fascinating find in reflective photography.
Above and next three below: I'm always looking for interesting benches in compositions.
Above: One side of Landrum Bolling Center for Interdisciplinary and Social Studies. The building was named for Landrum Ryder Bolling, a journalist, diplomat and activist for peace who served as the college’s president from 1958-73 and who died at the age of 104 on Jan. 17, 2018.
The south facade (above) of the Center for Visual and Performing Arts and a portion of an exhibit (below) inside the facility.
Approaching (above) and arriving (below) at Darrell Beane Football Stadium. The John Loose Weight Room and home team lockers are behind the stadium entrance in the second photo below.
Above: On game day, this was one of several pregame fun activities for youngsters near the football field.
The college’s predominant brick structures have beautiful exteriors, and the only one that struck me as in need of possible upgrading is Lilly Library. The library was built in 1953, and even though there was additional construction 40 years later, it struck me as lacking a place of prominence on campus. Most schools make their library a centerpiece structure (Butler University’s Irwin Library, Taylor University’s Zondervan Library and University of Indianapolis’ Krannert Memorial Library come to mind).
I wanted to inspect the inside of the Athletics and Wellness Center, which was open the Saturday I was there, but you needed a student ID card to get in. That was unfortunate, because it looked like a splendid facility to photograph.
Another frustration (I might even say oddity) was that the bookstore was closed — on a game day. (Perhaps because it was a holiday weekend?) There was a modest makeshift kiosk to buy Earlham spirit gear and clothing near the gate of the football stadium, but variety and choice options were limited there. There were a few T-shirt style options, but if you were looking for a hooded pullover sweatshirt, you had one choice.
Earlham’s Darrell Beane football stadium (which also is used for field hockey and soccer) is a relatively new facility (2007), and its FieldTurf surface is only four years old. My only nit about it was that there were no trees nearby to prove shade for cover on hot days. (For a detailed report on the status of football at Earlham College, please refer to the bottom portion of the text in Chapter 29 of this series.)
The only parts of campus I didn't make it to were the baseball, soccer and field hockey facilities and equestrian center on the far south end (referred to the as the “back campus”). I didn't spend nearly as much time exploring the Center for the Visual and Performing Arts as I had hoped and/or wanted.
To view a full gallery of images from my campus shoot, follow the link in this sentence.
Above: The Center for Science and Technology.
Above: Path to Runyan Student Activities Center.
Above and below: Two views of the Athletics & Wellness Center.
Above: Carpenter Hall.
Above: Lilly Library
Next up: Chapter 31, Anderson University vs. Hanover College, Sept. 2016
Previously in Game Day Revisited:
