History
The University of Arizona was founded in 1885. Construction for the first building on the University of Arizona, Old Main, began in 1887. Four years later, the university opened its doors to 32 students and 6 teachers. Classes were conducted in Old Main, the only building at the time. At Arizona’s inception there were no high schools in the Tucson area so the University held preparatory classes as well as college courses.
The school’s first football game was played in 1899 against Tempe Normal School, which is today known as Arizona State University, or ASU. The two continue to be rivals. The U of A became the Wildcats under the tenure of football Coach McKale, otherwise known as The McKale Era. A journalist for the Los Angeles Times described the 1914 Football team as possessing “the fight of wildcats.”
Perhaps one of the most memorable events in school history was the St. Patrick’s Day Strike in 1904. Nearly half of the students marched to downtown Arizona to protest then-President Babcock’s failure to recognize it as a holiday. The school’s motto, “Bear down” originated in 1926, from one of the most popular players on the football team, “Button” Salmon. Right before his death, then-Athletic Director McKale asked Salmon if he had a message for the team. His response was, “Tell them… tell them to bear down.”
Location
U of A is located in Tucson, Arizona, the largest city in southern Arizona and the second largest in the state. Commonly known as “the Old Pueblo”, Tucson is just 60 miles north of the Mexican border. Students take advantage of their proximity to our neighbor down south, and often visit for Greek events, vacations, or just a weekend getaway. The UA is located in midtown Tucson.
The main strip near campus is University Boulevard, home to retail shops, restaurants and bars. Students frequent University but overall tend to have an unfavorable view of UA’s surrounding area. For nightlife students either stay on or near campus, at houses, or travel to Mexico.
Campus
The campus can be divided into quadrants: north, south, east, and west. The north part is sectioned off from the south part by the Mall, which extends from Old Main to Campbell Avenue. East and west are divided by Highland Avenue and the Student Memorial Center.
Much of UA’s main campus is a designated arboretum, housing a collection of plants that can withstand the arid Southwest desert climate. Plants flower depending on seasonal factors such as soil temperature, rainfall, or whether or not pollinators are present.
Architecturally, UA has a diverse mix of buildings, from a variety of influences. In the early twentieth century American envisioned itself as the new Greece or Rome so many universities emulated the ancient architectural style. Perhaps the most obvious manifestation of the latter at is the columns, as displayed at Herring Hall. Many buildings including the school’s first, Old Main, are made of red brick. Many of the more recently built structures are modern, usually with glass facades, such as the addition to the Meinel Optical Sciences building. The contrast between the old and new architectural styles at UA makes for a unique architectural experience.
Issues
A recent aggravation among students at UA is the recent loss of 1,000 parking spaces in order to make room for new residence halls. Because of the already limited parking this elimination may lead to an increase in parking pass prices, prohibiting freshmen from bringing cars to school and not allowing students who live off-campus to purchase a parking pass.
Another hot topic is raising tuition costs for the upcoming school year. Undergraduate in-state residents will experience a 9% hike, while out-of-state students will suffer a 15% increase. With little support from the Arizona Legislature, the Board of Regents claimed they could not keep tuition as it was.
On-campus safety is also an issue that students worry about. Shootings at Northern Illinois University and Virginia Tech as well as smaller incidents at Arizona have caused concern over just how safe students are. This past year, the university launched UA Alert, a system designed to send mass text messages to members of the campus community in the event of an emergency. Still, students are going one step further and taking action. Groups such as Students for Concealed Carry on Campus, a UA student organization that lobbies for passing legislature that would allow students to carry concealed weapons to school, are ever-present reminders that safety is a precarious issue at Arizona.
