University of Dayton

I had just finished my tour of Wright State and realized it was still early enough for me to swing by the University of Dayton (UD). I am really glad I did. Although I had been to Wright State before, I had never set foot on the UD campus, and I had heard that it is very nice. UD is a Catholic school, founded by Marianists, brothers and priests of the Society of Mary. It is one of three Marianist colleges in the U.S. today. The Marianists came to the U.S. to establish a presence and to found a school, but they arrived in 1849 in the midst of a cholera epidemic. They were sent to Dayton to help care for the sick. They kept the dream to establish a school alive, none the less, and the following year an opportunity arose. A John Stuart had been living just outside of Dayton on a farm he called Dewberry. He lost his infant daughter to the cholera outbreak, and in their grief he and his wife decided to return to Europe. The Marianists – Father Leo Meyer, Brother Maximin Zehler, Brother Charles Schultz, and Brother Andrew Edel – offered to buy Stuart’s farm. They told him about their plans to open the school and he was willing to sell. They had no money and no credit to get a loan to buy the land. None the less, Stuart sold Newberry Farm in return for a St. Joseph medal and the promise to pay him $12,000 plus interest. The sale was complete, and the property was renamed Nazareth on March 19, 1850. The sale included the 125-acre property, the Stuart mansion, and the grave of their infant daughter which Meyer assured the family the Marianists would maintain.  

The St. Mary’s School for Boys was established on July 1, 1850. They opened the doors to students, some fourteen boys at the primary school level, enrolled on September 3, 1850. All of the original fourteen were from Dayton. Later in the semester additional students arrived. These were boarding students who lived in the former Stuart mansion. The mansion burned down in 1860, but the school continued, only closing for a matter of months until additional facilities were online. Zehler was by then the president of the school, and despite the Civil War, the institution continued to grow. Over the course of the years the named changed to the St. Mary's Institute, to better reflect the growing curriculum. The name changed again in 1878 to St. Mary’s College as college coursework was offered. By 1882 the school was authorized by the state to confer college degrees. It kept the St. Mary’s College name until 1920. Thanks to a fire, much of the official documents – correspondence, board minutes, etc. – have been lost to history. This includes the precise motivation for the 1920 name change, which went from St. Mary’s College to the current University of Dayton. Changing from college to university is common, and there are dozens of examples of this in this blog. By why drop St. Mary’s? 

Although St. Mary’s College was a name also in-use by another Marianist school in San Antonio, Texas, the change seems to have nothing to do with distinguishing the two schools. St. Mary’s in Dayton had been established first (1850 compared to 1852). It also took the St. Mary’s College name first (1878 compared to 1882). It seems highly unlikely that the older institution would change its name in this case. At the time, it was publicly stated that the university wanted to illustrate its commitment to and relation with the city of Dayton. This is fair enough. The university had been an integral component of the city for years. During a great flood in 1913, citizens took refuge at the college which, thanks to its presence on a hill, remained dry. Some scholars have recently suggested that part of the motivation was to lessen the identification of the school as a Catholic institution. There was some widespread bigotry toward Catholics in the area in the early 20th Century, and these scholars suggest the use of a generic name would relieve any bigotry aimed at the university. It is an interesting idea, but again there are no official documents that clearly state the rationale of university leadership on this point. Regardless, the university applied to the state of Ohio to officially change its name on July 7, 1920. Permission was granted on September 7th, and from that point forward it has been known as UD. The university remained all male until 1935 when women were admitted to the university (although it appears some women enrolled in courses earlier just not as degree seeking students). Today, the university enrolls over 10,500 students, has an endowment of over $800 million, and has a campus which covers some 388 acres.

I frequently begin a post at whatever place I start my walk around campus. I had intended to park near the main entrance to campus and take a photo of the university's entrance sign but they were getting ready for new student orientation and tours with families and that area was a bit busy. So, I parked a block away by the Adele Center seen in the photo below. Adele is the newest housing option at the university having opened in 2017. It is an apartment-style residence which can accommodate up to 96 people in twenty-four units. It is named in honor of Adèle de Batz de Trenquelléon. She, along with William Joseph Chaminade founded the Daughters of Mary Immaculate, commonly referred to as the Marianist Sisters. The total cost to build Adele was about $11.2 million (about $14.8 million today). 

The next set is of the first academic building I visited on campus, St. Joseph Hall. It opened in 1884 and was designed by one of the Marianist Brothers, Joseph Senentz. During its original construction, the bricks were brought to the site by passing each one hand to hand from a brickworks near the construction site. The timbers were acquired from a lumbermill operated by John H. Patterson. Mr. Patterson operated a business that would have a long and important association with both the University of Dayton and nearby Wright State: the National Cash Register Company, or NCR. The building sits on the site of the former Stuart Mansion which was destroyed by a fire on December 27, 1856. A convent was built on the site in 1857, but it too would fall victim to a fire in 1883. St. Joseph hall would also be caught up in a great conflagration on December 22, 1987. The fire gutted the building, and it would have to be rebuilt. It was rededicated in 1989. Although it was primarily used as an academic building, it has had many roles over the years. The top three floors were used as a dorm beginning in 1911, and parts of the building would be used as a dorm until 1964. During a terrific flood of Dayton in 1913, refugees from many parts of the city which were overcome with water were housed there. Today, several of the social sciences have offices in the building.

The first two photos give you views of the west façade of the building. The next three photos show the north side of the building in a courtyard connecting to both the Chapel of the Immaculate Conception and Chaminade Hall (see below for each). The courtyard is a lovely area with a good balance of brick sidewalks and green spaces. The sixth photo is a sculpture that stands beside the building. The piece is called Holy Family and it depicts the time when Joseph and Mary find Jesus in the temple with teachers. It is the work of artists Dorothea and James Kennedy. The last photo is the west façade again with the Chapel of the Immaculate Conception on the left and the ​Olsen Athletics Performance Center (see below) on the right.

The next set is the Chapel of the Immaculate Conception which sits next door to St. Joseph’s Hall. Groundbreaking on the Chapel occurred in 1868 and it was formally consecrated on June 24, 1869. Archbishop John Baptist Purcell led the dedication. The building had steam heating installed in 1898, and electricity was added the following year. As you can see in this photo from 1969, the chapel was once covered with ivy. I believe the wall is a newer addition to the site. Earlier photographs show a wall there, but it has an awning on it covering the courtyard side and there is a wooden gate about where the current open arch gateway stands as seen here and here. 

The first two photos provide views of the front façade of the building from slightly different angles. The third photo is looking northward with St. Mary's Hall in the background. The cross on the cupola is seven feet four inches tall and four feet six inches wide. A statue of William Chaminade stands in the niche to the right of the main entrance to the Chapel as seen in the fourth photo. It was installed on January 22, 1950, on the 100th anniversary of his passing. The niche to the left of the entrance (photo five) is of Mary and the Baby Jesus and is called Our Lady of the Pillar. It honors the 100th anniversary of the Marianists in the U.S.

The sixth photo is an archway in a brick wall attached to the chapel with Chaminade Hall (see below) in the background. This is a relatively new addition. Various renovations have taken place over the years, with the most significant recent efforts being completed in 2015 at the cost of $12 million (nearly $16 million today).

Crossing into the courtyard of the building provides a view of the north side of the building in the seventh photo. The art piece you see in photos eight and nine is called the Three O’Clock Prayer and is the work of artist Hamilton Dixon. It takes the name from the Marianist prayer which is carved around the base of the piece. It was installed in 2015 during the Chapel’s renovation. Dixon is a Dayton-based artist. The last photo is a view of the Chapel from in front of St. Mary’s Hall with St. Joseph Hall in the background.

The first photo of the next set is Chaminade Hall, named for William Chaminade the founder of the Marianists. The groundbreaking for the building was held in 1904, and it opened the following year. It opened as a dorm for upper division students. The basement had a game room which included pool tables and also once had a two-lane bowling alley, which you can see in this undated photo here. You can see a photo of Chaminade under construction in 1905 here. There is a photo on the University of Dayton's website of a very large shared dorm room inside of Chaminade. And when I shared, boy howdy I mean shared. The photo has no date, but the library site says it is sometime before 1950. It looks like something from before World War II to me. There are in excess of twenty eight beds all jammed into a classroom-type space with massive rows of sinks along one side. You can see the photo here. Click on the photo to enlarge it or download it using the link to the right of the photo and view it using your device's photo program. I had to share a room with one guy in a suite which held a total of four of us as an undergraduate. We each had our own sink and closets and only shared a shower and toilet. We thought we didn't have much in the way of personal space! This photo shows how much times have changed.

In 1909, it became the home to the first library on campus. Brother Thomas Mooney set about gathering the various books on campus and combining them into a single library in 1909. The collection moved into a space on the second floor of Chaminade. It quickly outgrew that space and had to be relocated to the basement. By 1917, it was too large for that space and was relocated again to St. Mary’s Hall. What is now called the School of Education and Health Sciences moved into the building in the 1940’s and remained there until 2014. The basement was renovated to install a cafeteria in 1947 and a lounge, complete with a kitchen, for women students opened on the third floor in 1957 called the Skylight Lounge. It had to be closed in 2014 because it did not meet modern safety standards. The university has long debated on whether to try to restore it or demolish it. It currently serves as a storage area.

The second photo is Liberty Hall which opened in 1866. It is another of Brother Zehler’s designs. It was the original rectory for the Marianist Brothers and was called The Home. Fittingly, the Campus Ministry Offices now call the building home. It was also the campus infirmary and because of this it has been reported to be haunted (at least in the past). It received the name Liberty Hall as a nickname during World War I and it has been called that ever since. It is the oldest building on campus which has the same basic structure as it did when completed. It once had a coffee shop in the basement called Monk’s Inn. 

The next set begins with six photos of the ​Jesse Philips Humanities Center. Designed by Edge & Tinney architects, the building was dedicated on October 24, 1993. Jesse Philips was a member of the UD Board of Trustees and the founder Philips Industries. He was the son of Hungarian immigrants who attended Oberlin College on a scholarship. While there, he also worked multiple jobs to make ends meet. He graduated in 1937 and received a scholarship to attend graduate school at Harvard, completing his MBA there. He founded Philips Industries which initially made trailer window parts. It became a Fortune 500 company. He donated funds to assist in the construction of the building. He served on the Oberlin Board of Trustees from 1968 to 1987. He gave Oberlin $1 million (about $7.7 million today) to aid in funding the construction of a gymnasium; the Philips Physical Education Center on the campus is thus named in his honor. Oberlin awarded him an honorary doctorate in 1988. He served on UD’s board eighteen years, including two years as its chair. UD credits him for massively increasing its endowment which increased nearly nine times during his time on the board. He was a philanthropist for many causes, including another $1 million gift to UD as well as $1 million to create an endowment for Dayton Public Schools. The Association of Governing Boards of Universities and Colleges gave him their Distinguished Service Award in Trusteeship in 1986. The sculpture in the fourth photo is a piece called Holy Family by artists and spouses Dorothea and James Kennedy.

The sculpture you see in the sixth and seventh photos is officially called Untitled but is sometimes referred to as Metal Abstraction. As you can see, it is the work of Brother Mel Meyer, S.M. Meyer was a UD alumnus (Class of 1951).

The area in front of the Philips Center is called the Humanities Plaza​. It is a lovely green space with an amphitheater. You can see bits of it in photos eight and ninen. In the ninth photo, the building on the right is Philips and the one to the rear is the Eugene W. Kettering Engineering and Research Laboratories. Kettering is also the building in the tenth photo. It is another building designed by the Pretzinger and Pretzinger architectural firm. A groundbreaking for the building was held on March 1, 1968 and it was completed in 1970. It was formally dedicated on October 24, 1970. It has been significantly renovated at some point, but I was unable to find out when that was. In its original configuration, it looks very much the part of a building designed in the late 1960's. It was basically a box with a flat roof and a curved concrete awning on the lower floor. You can see photos of it in its original state here and here. The renovation gave it much better curb appeal in my opinion.

The set below provides two views of the statue of William Chaminade which stands near the John F. Kennedy Union (see below) on the Central Mall (also below). The piece is the work of artist Joseph Aspell, a former Marianist Brother and UD alumnus (Class of 1986). Another of Aspell’s works stands on campus, but I didn’t see it and thus do not have a photo of it. The Mary, Seat of Wisdom sculpture has Jesus’ mother as an older woman with outstretched arms. You can read about that piece and see a photo of it here. ​He completed the Chaminade statue in 2012 and it was donated to the university by then-president Dan Curran and his wife Claire Renzetti. The same casting of the Chaminade statue stands on the campuses of the other two Marianist universities in the U.S., Chaminade University in Honolulu and St. Mary’s University in San Antonio. Like the one at Dayton, the one at Chaminade in Honolulu is outside; the one at St. Mary’s, I believe, is indoor.

The next set is of the John F. Kennedy Union, UD's student center. A groundbreaking for the building was held on March 1, 1963. It would have had a different name in the planning stages, of course, but with President Kennedy's assassination on November 22nd, it was given his name. It was dedicated on April 7, 1965. It is one of many buildings on campus designed by the architectural firm Pretzinger and Pretzinger. There was an existing Student Union Building which sat adjacent to Kennedy. Kennedy has a cornerstone with a time capsule. Included in it are artifacts related to President Kennedy, university documents including information about the building, newspapers and magazines from the era, and a piece of wood from the former Student Union Building.

The first photo is the Kennedy Center from the viewpoint of the Central Mall (see below) looking at the south side of the building. The next three photos are of the north side entrance. The sculpture of President Kennedy, called Kennedy’s Eternal Flame, you see here is not the original. The original piece was the work of artist William “Bill” Thompson. The university commissioned the original, which was basically identical in appearance, specifically for the union after Kennedy’s assassination. Thompson offered a piece of cast bronze, but the university wanted a less expensive option. The original was cast not in bronze, but of Portland cement and crushed marble chips over a skeleton of metal rods. It was installed in 1964. UD renovated the union in the late 1990’s and the original was removed in 1997 during that work. It had weathered considerably and needed work. Rather than repair the older piece, the university had Cincinnati-based artist John Leon complete a new piece in bronze based on the original as Thompson had passed away in 1995. The task was not easy. A hand was missing, as were other parts of the original piece. Leon reached out to former UD alumnus (Class of 1951), professor, and sculptor Henry C. Setter who knew Thompson and who had worked on repairs on the original piece during his time at the university. Setter had a number of photos of the original in its complete form which aided Leon in his work. Setter had left the university for the University of West Georgia but still felt a great connection to the university. Leon’s work was cast at the David Klahn Foundry in Athens, Ohio. It was actually cast in twenty-two pieces which were subsequently combined. The piece stands eight feet and weighs 600 pounds. It stands on an 800-pound granite base. Apparently, the original cement version was quite a bit heavier. The current piece was installed on October 8, 1998, and was dedicated on October 16th.

The dedicatory plaque is by the north side entrance. The interior views of the building in photos six and seven are just inside that entrance.

At the heart of campus is a remarkably beautiful green space known as the Central Mall. The space covers about seven acres and it was quite beautiful during my visit. Despite the summer heat, it was lush and the grass was a lovely dark green. ​The area was once the site of a number of tennis courts. The first courts were constructed there in 1930, and additional ones were added in 1947. The tennis courts were removed in 2003, and the amphitheater and the plaza in front of Marycrest Complex (see below) were completed in 2010. Most of the sidewalks on campus are brick as you can see here and the look of them complements the green of Central Mall quite well. I can imagine this space to be full of people and life during the academic year.

The set below begins with four photos of Alumni Hall. Unfortunately, I was not able to find out much about the building. A groundbreaking ceremony for the structure would be held on June 12, 1922. It was completed in about two years and was dedicated on September 28, 1924. Alumni opened as a residence hall, and served in that role until the 1950’s. Today it is home to a number of program and service offices. It still serves as a residence in part, but not for students. Nearly three dozen priests, brothers, and sisters live in the building. The first three photos show the west façade of the building and the fourth the east side. 

The fifth photo is the building next door to Alumni which is ​Founders Hall. For some reason, I believe I accidently deleted my best photo of the main entrance to the building and all that I am left with is the one you see here. It is a side entrance which faces the Central Mall. The groundbreaking for the building was held on March 31, 1953, and it was formally dedicated on August 29, 1954. It was designed by Freeman Pretzinger. It opened as a residence hall, and it remains as such to this day. It was renovated over the course of two years beginning in 2012. It was a substantial undertaking, adding central air conditioning, a modern fire suppression system, new bathrooms, and other needed upgrades. The work cost $10 million (or about $13.7 million in 2024 value).  
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​The sixth and seventh photos are of O'Reilly Hall. O'Reilly was built to serve as the home to the university's ROTC program. It still does, although now the administrative offices of the College of Arts and Sciences are housed in the structure as well. An official groundbreaking was held on January 18, 1951, and it was dedicated on March 31, 1952. 

Photos eight through ten show Marianist Hall. Marianist was completed in 2004 and was dedicated on September 3rd of that year. It was designed by the Edge & Tinney Architects firm. The Marianist Order donated $10 million to UD in the fundraising effort that occurred prior to the building’s construction and thus the building was named in their honor. It is a multiple purpose building. Part of it is a residence hall which can accommodate 380 residents. One part is home to the university's bookstore and a convenience store. It also has the Chapel of the Blessed Marianist Martyers on the west side of the complex. 

The building in the background in the tenth photo is the RecPlex, the student recreation center on campus. It was designed by the Edge & Tinney architecture firm. It was dedicated on January 6, 2006. Currently, the RecPlex has a four-court gymnasium, two multipurpose courts, racquetball courts, meeting rooms, fitness studios, a lap pool, a running track, locker rooms, and a 10,000 square foot fitness center. The university will be renovating and expanding the facility starting next year. Part of the expansion will include a new student health center that will cover about 15,000 square feet of space and a new student counseling center with about 13,200 square feet of space. The recreation side of the building will also be enlarged to the tune of 5,300 additional square feet of space. Those services are currently housed in Gosinger Hall (the next building in this set).

Finally, this set closes with a photo of ​Gosiger Hall. ​Gosiger is another one of the many buildings designed by the architecture firm Pretzinger and Pretzinger. Construction began in 1966, and it was dedicated in 1967. It is named after Clarence C. Gosinger who was on the UD Board of Trustees. It is currently the home of the student health clinic and student counseling center, as well as some other student services. As just noted, much of these services are set to relocate to the RecPlex when the renovation and expansion is completed in about two years. I was not able to find out exactly what the university plans to do with Gosiger after that.

The next set is of ​Serenity Pines, a mediation garden located near Gosiger Hall. It sits near a Marianist Cemetary, and is a quiet place for meditation, contemplation, or a moment's rest. It is a lovely feature. A groundbreaking for the garden was held on June 15, 2001. The statue you see in the first two photos, Our Lady of the Pines was originally erected on campus in 1890 in thanks for a prayer to save the Chapel of the Immaculate Conception from a fire. The area is also the final resting place of the Stuart's infant daughter. As mentioned above, the Stuart's wanted to leave the U.S. and return to Europe after her passing during the cholera outbreak of 1848. I always seem to find rabbits on college campuses these days. It may be a bit hard to spot, but you can see a bunny in the last photo if you look hard enough.

The next set gives three views of the ​Marycrest Complex, a residence hall. The building was completed on September 9, 1962, and dedicated on September 23rd. It is yet another building designed by Pretzinger and Pretzinger. It was the first dorm on campus for women. Previously, women students either lived in university-approved rental properties or in space rented by the university in the Loretto Hotel in downtown Dayton. It was significantly enlarged in 1964, when the center portion and two additional wings were added to the existing structure. It is the largest residence hall on campus with the ability to accommodate up to 940 residents. It has a dining facility on the ground floor. Its name is an homage to St. Mary and the fact that it sits atop a hill.

By this point in my visit, I had worked my way around to the area north of the Central Mall. The first buildings I came to on this side were science buildings. As you walk from east to west down this side of the Mall the first building you come to is Wohlleben Hall. Wohlleben is the building on the right in the first two photos and the main subject of photos three and four. Wohlleben’s construction was quite fast. A groundbreaking ceremony for it was held on July 18, 1957, and it was dedicated on April 12, 1958. Designed by architect Freeman Pretzinger. Pretzinger was a Dayton-based architect who worked alongside his brother Albert. They designed numerous gems across Ohio including several local libraries and the historic Building 12 on Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. Freeman was born in 1889, and died on October 9, 1972, aged eighty-three. It is named for long-serving professor Marianist Brother William H. Wohlleben. Dr. Wohlleben was the first Marianist in the U.S. to earn a Ph.D. He came to Dayton in 1909 when it was the St. Mary's Institute and began the chemistry program. Wohlleben was renovated in 2003 and that is when the connection building, Science Center, was completed. The red art piece you see in front of the building is another work of Mel Myer. It was originally included in the collection of the Marianist Galleries in St. Louis, Missouri, but was donated to campus after his death in 2013. It is called simply “Untitled” but is commonly referred to as the Red Box. Coming in at 90,000 square feet, Wohlleben was the largest building on campus when it opened. It cost $1.6 million, or about $17.9 million in today's value, to construct. It is home to chemistry and chemical engineering. 

The part in the middle with the glass façade in photos one, two, four, and five is called the Science Center and is considered a separate building at least in terms of naming. Wohlleben and Sherman Hall (below) were only sixty feet apart from one another. As the need for additional space increased, it made sense to make use of this space, connect the buildings, and do some remodeling in the process. Thus, the buildings were connected in 2003, and the new center building received the Science Center name. The cost of the new structure and the renovations came in $22 million (or about $38.3 million today).

​The seventh photo is a view of the Central Mall from in front of this complex of buildings. The last three photos of this set are of Sherman Hall. Groundbreaking on December 5, 1957. Dedicated on May 5, 1960. Also designed by architect Freeman Pretzinger. Named for John Q. Sherman, one of the founders and president of Standard Register Corporation. Mr. Sherman was also a member and president of UD’s board of lay trustees. He joined the board in 1930 and became its president in 1937. Sherman led the effort to create the Good Samaritan Hospital in Dayton at the beginning of the Great Depression. He oversaw the raising of over $1 million in less than thirty days for its construction. That is quite the feat, particularly when you consider that would be well over $18 million in 2024 value. He started the campaign by donating $25,000 of his own money. He died in 1939 during his term as president of the board. UD had presented him with an honorary doctorate in 1933. ​At least three of his seven children graduated from UD. I know that his sons John, William, and James all graduated from the university. It is possible some of the others did as well, but I could not confirm it. His oldest son John became a priest.

The smaller building on the left in the first photo is Miriam Hall. It is the primary subject of the second, third, and fourth photos as well. When I saw the name of the building, I assumed it was taken from the Bible. After all, it would make sense that a Catholic university would use a name of someone from the Bible. Miriam was the older sister of Moses and is detailed in the Book of Exodus. It is a Biblical name, but the building is in fact named in memoriam of Miriam Rosenthal, a Daytonian who donated funds to the university. Mrs. Rosenthal was particularly active in the Dayton community. She managed the Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra from 1935 until she passed away in 1965. The School of Business Administration is housed in the building. It has a 300-seat lecture hall, various classrooms, and faculty offices. The Groundbreaking for Miriam was held on July 13, 1964, it was completed in late 1965 and formally dedicated on March 29, 1966. Designed by Pretzinger and Pretzinger.

The tall building in these photos, and the brick building in the last two photos of this set are of the ​William S. Anderson Center. Construction on Anderson began, I believe, in 1985. It was formally dedicated on April 14, 1987. Named in honor of William S. Anderson, the president of National Cash Register (NCR) and the man credited with saving the company by moving it in the direction of computerized technology. He was also a member of the UD board. He was an amazing man. A prisoner of war during World War II, he would live a storied life, passing away on June 29, 2021, aged 102. You can read more about him here. It has always had the William S. Anderson name, but not in its current form. It was originally called the William S. Anderson Information Sciences Center. I am not certain when the name was changed. Like the Jesse Philips Humanities Center (see below), it was designed by the architectural firm Edge & Tinney Architects. NCR provided a gift of cash and computer products worth $3.5 million (about $10.2 million in 2024) to help fund and support the building.

The first two photos below are of the ​Heritage Coffee House. The building was completed in 1903 and opened as the Men’s Lavatory. I imagine it was more than just a restroom, but also a place with showers/baths, dressing rooms, and the like. It was then known as the Crystal Palace, and then the Carpentry Shop. In 1954 it became the campus post office. It would retain this role for forty-five years until 2004. In 2007, it was renovated and renamed the Heritage Center so named as it held historic items and provided a history of the university and its Marianist roots. In 2017, it was renovated once more and became the Heritage Coffee Shop.

The third, fourth, and fifth photos of this set are of the ​Rike Center for Fine Arts. You would not know it to look at it, but the Rike Center is a very old building. In fact, it opened in 1874. Naturally, a collegiate building one hundred and fifty years old has held many roles. It has been a theatre, a gym, and a chemistry building. It was once two stories tall. The second floor was for a time used as a dormitory. It was renovated in 1977, and the second floor was removed. It became the Rike Center in 1978, named after the Rike family of Dayton who donated funds for its renovation.

The last photo is of a historic marker for Erma Bombeck, journalist, syndicated news columnist, and an original member of the Good Morning America news show cast. Brombeck was a Dayton native. There is an early child development center on campus called the Bombeck Family Learning Center.

The next set is all of St. Mary's Hall. The building was completed on May 1, 1871. When it opened, it had dorm rooms, a dining hall, classrooms, offices, and a library. Today, it is the administration building for the university. Although it is not known for certain, it is believed that the architect of St. Mary’s  was Brother Maximin Zehler, who led the university when it was known as St. Mary’s College. He is also believed to have been the architect behind the Chapel of the Immaculate Conception, Liberty Hall, St. Mary’s Hall, and the building which now carries his name, Zehler Hall (all discussed below). Some sources indicate he was assisted in the design of St. Mary’s by a Father Reinbolt. When it was completed, it was the tallest building in the Dayton area. I say area here as the city itself had not grown out to where the campus sits. Farmland surrounded the nascent campus, and the building could be seen from great distances. For a time, many locals thought it too large, and it gained the nickname of Zehler’s Folly. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, St. Mary's cost $80,000 (which is about $2 million in today’s value) to build. Dayton had a dramatic flood in 1913, and the building was used to house locals as a shelter for a time.

The set below begins on the east side of the building with three photos of the entrance which faces Chaminade Hall. The blue sculpture you see in the first photo is another work of Mel Meyer, and it too is called Untitled. The last three photos are on the west side of the building. I love the windows in the fourth photo!

The next two photos are of the Hail Mary Monument which is also called the Immaculate Conception or Our Lady of Grace (I have seen it named variously on different university documents). It was erected on the site on the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, December 8, 1904. It stands fifty feet and is a remarkable piece. As is always the case, I took a number of photos of the monument. I couldn't decide which of the photos I liked best. I narrowed it down to one in portrait and the other in landscape and included both.

The next set is the Roesch Library. Groundbreaking occurred for Roesch on March 26, 1969, and the building was completed on January 23, 1971. It would not be formally dedicated until September 25, 1971. When it opened, it was simply called the University Library. It would be renamed on February 25, 1979, in honor of UD’s sixteenth President Raymond A. Roesch, S.M., who served in that role from 1959 until 1979. It is another of the university’s many buildings designed by the architecture firm Pretzinger and Pretzinger. The first five photos of this set give you different perspectives of the buildings east side entrance. The sculpture you see in the sixth photo is “Omega Point”, the work of artist and then faculty member Henry C. Setter. Setter, mentioned above in the section on the Kennedy Union, completed the piece in 1973. The base of the piece was restored in 2009 and the entirety of it was relocated to its present spot. I believe it was directly in front of the library's main entrance on the opposite side of the building from these photos. You can see a photo of the piece being installed on September 10, 1973 here and one of then Dayton president Father Raymond Roesch speaking at the dedication ceremony here. The seventh photo is of a gazebo amongst the trees not far from the library. I took it to provide an additional perspective of the green and rolling campus.

The first two photos of the next set are of the Olsen Athletics Performance Center. Olsen opened in 1962 as an addition to the Frericks Center. Initially called the Flyers Hangar, it was renovated to house the Department of Music and came complete with a concert hall. It was renamed Reichard Hall in 1975 in honor of the founder of the Department of Music, Dr. Maurice Reichard. It was renovated in 2014 again into an athletic training facility and was subsequently renamed in honor of Dr. Thomas Olsen and Ms. Mary H. Boosalis who contributed funds for the work. It has some 10,000 square feet of space.

To the right of Olsen in both of these photos is the ​Thomas J. Frericks Athletic and Convocation Center. ​Frericks began its life as the university’s first on-campus basketball arena. Prior to its construction, the basketball team played off campus at the Montgomery County Fairgrounds Arena. With the post-World War II boom in enrollment came the opportunity to create a new facility on campus. A groundbreaking ceremony was held in spring 1949 and the building opened in 1950. It was designed by the architecture firm Geyer & Neuffer and had a seating capacity of 5,800. It did not serve in this role for long. The university would need still larger facilities in short order, and the University of Dayton Arena (UD Arena) would replace it in 1969. The men’s basketball team had an impressive 256 wins and only 33 losses in the building. During this time, it was called the Fieldhouse. After the UD Arena opened, the building was used as a practice facility. The Olsen Athletics Performance Center was added in 1975. It underwent a major renovation in the 1980’s and today is home to the Dayton volleyball team. Its seating capacity is now set at 5,000, making it the fourth largest college volleyball arena in the U.S. The current name is in honor of long serving athletic director and Dayton alumnus (Class of 1953) Tom Frericks. He played basketball at Dayton and came back to work there in 1964, becoming athletic director after Harry Baujan retired. He passed away from cancer on January 31, 1992.

I have noted on my occasions that branding on college campuses is all the rage and that institutions have been doing more and more of it in recent years. Although there were some branded elements on campus, as such things go Dayton has taken a rather understated approach. One thing I happened to notice that exemplifies this was the tops of lampposts in the area by Olsen. Expand the last photo and you will see a small Cross on top. Not exactly branding for the university, but a rather a subtle nod to its Catholic history and mission.

This set is of ​Baujan which has been on campus for nearly a century. Construction on the site was completed in 1925. Part of the site was on a former playing field called Patterson Field. Building Baujan required Rubicon Creek to be diverted. You can see it in an earlier configuration in this aerial photo of campus taken on September 18, 1959. It opened as UD Stadium and kept that name until 1961. In December of that year, it was renamed in honor of Harry C. Baujan who was a long serving coach and athletic director. He played college football at Notre Dame and in the NFL for two seasons for Cleveland. He was a member of the Fighting Irish team when Knute Rockne was head coach. What is impressive about his playing in the NFl was that it came after his serving in the Army during World War I. He might have had more playing time if he had not gone to war after graduating from Notre Dame. His record as head coach at Dayton was 124 wins, 64 losses, and 8 ties. He passed away on December 30, 1976. 

The stadium has been updated over the years. The original seating, which was constructed on a concrete base, was removed in 1974. The brick terraced seating you see here was added in 2000. Total seating is currently set at 2,000. Today, Baujan Field is the home to the university’s soccer teams and the football team plays at Welcome Stadium off campus. 

The low set building you see in the background (on the right in the first photo, the middle of the second, and the main subject of the third) is Jessie S. Hathcock Hall. Built or opened in 1978. When it opened it was known as the Music and Theater Building. It would keep this name until 2021 when it received its current moniker. It is named in honor of the first African American woman to graduate from UD.

UD has a number of different lamppost signs, with two examples seen in the next set. They are a bit different than most. The university's stylized logo is on the sign, but only at the bottom and in a very small scale. They also do not prominently feature the university's colors nor a mascot. Instead, they have photos of students on the bright backgrounds you see here. In that way, they are quite unique.

There are some fantastic buildings on campus and the rolling landscape is gorgeous with its various green spaces and courtyards really stood out to me. Overall, it is a great campus with an intimate feel to it. I really liked the place and would enjoy coming back and seeing what it is like when the students are on campus. In prepping for this post, I found that there are a few books on the university that have been published over the years. For the most part, I was not able to get my hands on what I would call a substantive history of the place. Most of my information came from the university archives. One of my colleagues here also gave me the book Reading the Signs of the Times: The University of Dayton in the Twenty-First Century which is a great coffee table book with lots of photos of the university over time. You can actually access it for free on the UD website here. If you ever find yourself in the area, it is a great place to walk around.