Forbes magazine recently came out with its list of “The World’s Most Beautiful Campuses,” and it cites some fine examples. I approve of the inclusion of University of California at Santa Cruz. Oxford, Princeton, Stanford, and Yale are there, of course. Also featured are some campuses that are not often seen on such rankings, which usually go for the obvious. Gracing the Forbes slide show, for example, is a picture of Kenyon College at the height of autumn. The list also includes the University of Cincinnati, which has hired a slew of star architects to make its campus more interesting and attractive (not least to the news media).
Predictably, people have raised questions about the rankings in the comments. Where’s Smith College? Where’s Cornell University? Oxford, but not Cambridge? “This list is highly suspect,” wrote one commenter, as if authoritative scores of campus beauty existed somewhere.
The fact is, there are lots of pretty campuses (and, alas, even more ugly ones). I would be interested in a list of Most Beautiful Campuses One Never Sees on Lists of Most Beautiful Campuses. Here are a few nominations, and I would be interested in yours:
The Johns Hopkins University: Yes, the university has tons of money for fancy buildings and isn’t exactly overlooked. But in recent years, it has done much to spruce up the grounds, replacing blacktop with red brick and parking lots with green space. The project has enlivened the campus.
Davis & Elkins College: I visited D&E last fall. While parts of the campus are in disrepair after years of financial stress, the raw assets of the campus are tremendous: The buildings are tucked into the West Virginia hills in very interesting ways. And the two campus mansions, along with a historic icehouse that has been transformed into a pub, add an opulence that few small colleges can claim.
Hamilton College: Maybe I have a thing for hilltop colleges. One drives up a hill from Clinton, N.Y., to get to Hamilton. The campus’s historic buildings (pictured here) have an astounding beauty, especially on the misty late-winter day I was there.
St. John’s University, in Minnesota: The monks of St. John’s took a risk in hiring Marcel Breuer to design several buildings on the campus, and the architect produced Modernist work of a kind you can’t see anywhere else. But I am as much a fan of the older buildings on campus and the surrounding woods.
Well, that’s a start. The Forbes list did include Tsinghua University, in Beijing (pictured at the top), which seems to be one of those overlooked campuses. The inclusion prompted a reader to break out in Zen verse in the comments:
“Lotus Pond in Tsinghua University”
Same campus, Different students
Same pond, Different lotus
Same trees, Different leaves
Same bench, Different sitters
Same space, Different time
Same scene, Different sentiment
My gorgeous Lotus Pond, My good old day
What campus inspires you to write poetry?
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36 Responses to The Most (Overlooked) Beautiful Campuses
11159817 - March 15, 2010 at 4:14 pm
I have always thought that St. Lawrence University in upstate New York was a very pretty campus.
eckelcc - March 15, 2010 at 4:43 pm
University of Virginia is a specatular campus!
marcytaylor - March 15, 2010 at 4:45 pm
The University of Idaho–the Palouse in autumn is the most beautiful place on earth.
v8573254 - March 15, 2010 at 4:47 pm
To turn off Hinman Avenue into the Northwestern Campus (Evanston) is a pleasure — there’s Lake Michigan. The main campus is lovely, also — trees and more trees. Green. Flowers. A Shakespeare Garden. Two church steeples in close view. A Lakefront trail.and, just for the record, the Forbes family has close ties to Princeton.
jungianscholar - March 15, 2010 at 4:59 pm
For large state campuses, I couldn’t find better than Michigan State in Lansing, MI, and the University of Illinois, at Champaign-Urbana… both have beautiful classical architecture, surrounded by verdant lawns. Michigan State even has a river flowing through its campus! For small campuses, The University of California at Santa Barbara, over looking the Pacific Ocean, and Antioch College, in Yellow Springs, OH (scheduled to reopen in Fall of 2011) are two of my favorites. Antioch Hall was designed prior to the Smithsonian Institute, by the same architect, and was finished around the Civil War’s end. It has a lovely green campus, adjacent to a 1,000 acre glaciated nature preserve. Two other of the original buildings survive, North and South Hall.jungian scholar
lsuagecon - March 15, 2010 at 5:16 pm
I assume marcytaylor thinks the same about WSU only eight miles away!The old part of the campus at Michigan State University looks great. Also, Oregon State University is well landscaped.
supertatie - March 15, 2010 at 8:50 pm
Yes, to Illinois! I am a townie who did not go to school here, but I think that so many of the buildings (and the main quads) on this campus are glorious – spring, summer, fall, and yes, winter, too.
debratownsend - March 15, 2010 at 9:16 pm
I agree with Michigan State. What a beautiful Ivy-style campus for a huge 40,000 student state school. I remember it fondly!!!
22001057 - March 15, 2010 at 9:18 pm
Also the University of Delaware… among the most beautiful campuses on the East Coast.
scarlson - March 15, 2010 at 9:21 pm
These are all great nominations. We’ll have to do some sort of list at some point. Keep them coming!
daviddbest - March 15, 2010 at 10:48 pm
How about…U. Charleston (west Virginia)holy cross (Wooster, ma)community college allegheny county (is that the one with the millionaires row?)
mayasen - March 15, 2010 at 11:09 pm
Lewis & Clark College in Portland, OR – grand manor house overlooking tiered gardens, reflecting pool, and rose gardens, with a spectacular view of Mt. Hood in the background.
auplibrary - March 16, 2010 at 5:21 am
University of the South Sewanee, TN
prhelm1 - March 16, 2010 at 6:31 am
Muhlenberg College in Allentown, PA. collegiate gothic integrated with first rate contemporary architecture in a sophisticated and respectful way. Immaculately maintained grounds, welcoming public areas.
erikagwen - March 16, 2010 at 7:00 am
Sweet Briar College & their 3000+ acre campus tucked in the mountains of VA…. Just breath taking.
donvolz - March 16, 2010 at 7:09 am
Texas State University-San Marcos. A hilltop campus with 110 year old “Old Main” building on top of the hill, a spring fed lake that is the headwaters of the San Marcos River that runs through the campus, numerous ancient and massive trees, ponds of a former fish hatchery with fountains … all-in-all very picturesque.
englishwlu - March 16, 2010 at 7:21 am
From how many college campuses can you see both coastal waters and glaciers in the nearby coastal mountains? Surrounded by the Tongass rainforest, University of Alaska Southeast in Auke Bay, Alaska gets my vote for the most beautiful college campus.
cmsmw - March 16, 2010 at 7:21 am
Iowa State is lovely, as is Indiana University in Bloomington.
shelley_m - March 16, 2010 at 8:46 am
Mcgill University in Montreal, Quebec is magnificent,with Mount Royal in the backround.
stetsonlawyer - March 16, 2010 at 9:03 am
Stetson University’s main law school campus in Tampa Bay, Florida, was once the site of a 1920s luxury resort. Spectacular Mediterranean architecture (towers, walled courtyards) amidst palm-tree lined streets.
sahara - March 16, 2010 at 9:27 am
DUKE UNIVERSITY, of course! The spectacular Sarah P. Duke Gardens, the gothic Chapel with surrounding quad architecture reflecting the same gothic themes, and the reflection of the older arches and stone in the newer buildings.
mjw13 - March 16, 2010 at 9:29 am
If you like hillside campuses, you should take the 30 minute trip south of Hamilton College to Colgate University, located in, yes, Hamilton, NY.
luigi - March 16, 2010 at 9:40 am
Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs, NY. The architecture mirrors the town’s Victorian brick style, and there are some newer interesting buildings like the Tang Art Gallery and the Zankel music center. Plus lots of woods. Adjacent to the campus are some extraordinary Victorian mansions.
ashleym - March 16, 2010 at 11:25 am
What about Williams College in Williamstown, MA or Elon University in Elon, NC? Both are beautiful open campuses.
kaaron - March 16, 2010 at 11:41 am
Paul Smith’s College in the Adirondacks of New York State. On a beautiful chain of lakes, with skiing, snowshoeing, hiking, hunting, fishing and more within walking distance.
aaroncj - March 16, 2010 at 12:04 pm
Berry College in Rome Georgia. An expansive bucolic campus.
scarlson - March 16, 2010 at 12:28 pm
I regret forgetting to mention Furman University on this blog. Much of Emory is very nice, too.
tvoller - March 16, 2010 at 1:50 pm
SJU campus from the air (2,700 acres of woods and lakes): http://www.csbsju.edu/admission/whycsbsju/sjuairview.htm
flynnra1 - March 16, 2010 at 2:59 pm
I’m quite fond of the West Virginia Wesleyan College campus.
davetheaztec - March 16, 2010 at 3:03 pm
I lvoe the backdrop for the University of California, Merced – Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada moutain create a stunning visual as you walk across campus. The architecture itself helps suppor that view as well.
glennj - March 16, 2010 at 5:00 pm
The 1,509 acre campus of Prairie View A&M University is certainly one of the most beautiful in the Southwest. Once an African-slave plantation, the campus, which is covered with Post oak trees of various sizes, has the highest elevation in the Texas Gulf coast. From some vantage points on campus, one can see the skyline of Houston, located some 27 miles southeast.
cdzbiking - March 16, 2010 at 10:48 pm
If you think Tsinghua U campus is beautiful, go to Peking U campus (both in Beijing).
elen3124 - March 17, 2010 at 6:04 am
Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario is a beautiful lakeside campus of classical limestone buildings in a town of many historical buildings, also limestone.
crumley - March 17, 2010 at 9:10 am
The University of Wisconsin-Madison is also a beautiful lakeside campus with great hills and nature areas. Plus it has a nice mix of architecture.
wnlureg - March 17, 2010 at 9:24 pm
Washington and Lee is “[T]he most beautiful college campus in America.” …John Cowper Powys (1872-1963), writer, lecturer, and philosopher.”If this scene were set down in the middle of Europe, the whole continent would flock to see it!” …John Drinkwater (1882-1937), English poet and dramatist
realtyannie - March 18, 2010 at 7:17 pm
What a pleasant article and commentary, especially compared to all the recent bad news about tenure, the job market, budgets, the humanities, etc. – realtyannie, M.A. Speech Communication, the gorgeous University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 1990.