The Danforth Campus is the main campus at Washington University in St. Louis. Formerly known as the Hilltop Campus, it was officially dedicated as the Danforth Campus on September 17, 2006, in honor of William H. Danforth, the 13th chancellor of the university, the Danforth family and the Danforth Foundation. Distinguished by its collegiate gothic architecture, the campus lies at the western boundary of Forest Park, partially in the City of St. Louis.
Most of the campus (including almost all academic and administrative buildings) is in a small enclave of unincorporated St. Louis County, while eastern parts are in St. Louis City. All the campus area south of Forsyth Boulevard (mostly student housing; the South 40 Campus and the former Fontbonne University), is in suburban Clayton.
History
The construction of Danforth Campus was accelerated through a profitable lease of several buildings to the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair. During the fair, Brookings Hall, Busch Hall, Cupples I & II Halls, Francis Field & Gymnasium (site of the 1904 Summer Olympics), Ridgley Hall, Eads Hall, and Prince Hall (a men's dormitory) were used as administrative and exhibition spaces. At the fair's conclusion, the newly constructed buildings assumed their original functions as classrooms and administrative offices. Additionally, Francis Field and Gymnasium were converted for use by the Washington University athletic department.
The landscape design of the Danforth Campus was created in 1895 by Olmsted, Olmsted & Eliot, a firm best known for designing New York City's Central Park. In 1899, after holding a national design competition, Washington University's administrators selected the Philadelphia firm Cope & Stewardson to design the entire campus. Cope & Stewardson, a firm known for its mastery of Collegiate Gothic, designed Brookings Hall as a centerpiece of a new campus plan. The plan, modeled after the distinctive quadrangles of Oxford and Cambridge Universities, has guided the construction and expansion of the Danforth Campus to the present day.
In 1922, Arthur Holly Compton, a physics professor, conducted a series of experiments in the basement of Eads Hall that demonstrated the particle concept of electromagnetic radiation. Compton's discovery, known as the "Compton Effect," earned him the Nobel Prize in physics in 1927.
A large portion of the Danforth Campus is recognized as the Washington University Hilltop Campus Historic District, which achieved National Historic Landmark status in 1987.
In the summer of 2002, Brookings Hall Room 300 was transformed into the Mission Control center for Steve Fossett's sixth and ultimately successful attempt to circumnavigate the planet in a balloon—the Spirit of Freedom.
In 2019, a $360 million renovation project, called the "East End Transformation", was unveiled on the Danforth Campus, building on the original 1895 campus plan by Olmsted, Olmsted & Eliot. The project included the creation of the Gary M. Sumers Welcome Center, which now houses undergraduate admissions; the Craig and Nancy Schnuck Pavilion, which houses a café, the Environmental Studies program, and the Office of Sustainability; the Henry A. and Elvira H. Jubel Hall, which houses the Department of Mechanical Engineering & Materials Science in the McKelvey School of Engineering; and the James M. McKelvey, Sr. Hall, which will be completed in 2020 and open in 2021 and will house the McKelvey School of Engineering's Department of Computer Science & Engineering. All new buildings on the east end have been designed to achieve LEED-Gold certification and include solar panels on many of the roofs to generate renewable electricity. In addition to the five new buildings, the project relocated six acres of parking lots underground, renovated and expanded the Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum, and created the Ann and Andrew Tisch Park.
Student organizations Washington University has over 300 registered undergraduate student organizations on campus. All are funded by WUSTL's student government, the Washington University Student Union, which has an approximately $3.6 million annual budget that is completely student controlled and is one of the largest student government budgets in the country. Known as SU for short, it sponsors large-scale campus programs including WILD (a semesterly concert in the quad), free copies of The New York Times, USA Today, and the St. Louis Post-Dispatch through The Collegiate Readership Program; the Assembly Series, a weekly lecture series; and the campus television station, WUTV and the radio station, KWUR and Filmboard. The Office of Student Activities provides advisors, leadership training, counseling, and other support to the student groups on campus.
The university is home to one of the largest collegiate Relay For Life in the country, raising over $200,000 last year in total donations. Additionally, there are over 50 community service groups on campus such as a Habitat for Humanity Campus Chapter.
There are 10 national fraternities and 8 national sororities on campus; there are also 8 national black Greek organizations which have citywide St. Louis chapters. 9 of the fraternities have houses on the Danforth Campus, while none of the sororities have houses by their own accord. Greek Organizations are governed by the principles of Arete, which focuses on Integrity, Loyalty, Philanthropy, Responsibility, Friendship, and Intellectual Curiosity.
Washington University Student Union The Washington University Student Union is the undergraduate student government of Washington University in St. Louis. Founded in 1967, Student Union carries out three major activities: representing student interests; registering, funding, and supporting student groups; and planning campus-wide events. It is divided into three branches: the Executive, Legislative, and Judicial branches. The Student Union Executive Branch comprises 5 elected individuals, who are the student body officials - the President, Vice President of Administration, Vice President of Finance, Vice President of Programming, and Vice President of Public Relations - who are charged with managing and allocating the budget, being the point of contact with University administration, and leading and setting the direction for Student Union. The Legislative branch includes the Treasury and the Senate. The Treasury of the Student Union hears appeals for finances from various student groups. Approximately 300 student groups on campus are registered SU groups, utilizing a large portion of the over $2 million budget. Recent resolutions of the Senate include improving Wi-Fi capabilities, improving relations between Alumni & Development and the Career Center, adding new capabilities to student ID cards, forming a LGBTQA task force, requiring all professors to distribute course syllabi and midterm grade progresses, and increasing the minimum wage of university workers. The SU Judicial Branch includes a Constitutional Council comprising a Chief Justice, four Associate Justices, and one Alternate. The Election Commissioners also fall under the Judicial Branch of Student Union. SU also publishes Bearings, the unofficial student handbook, and its supplemental website.
Music There is a large interest in A cappella music on campus, spawning groups such as After Dark, The Amateurs, The Aristocats, Deliverance, The Ghost Lights, The Greenleafs, More Fools Than Wise], The Mosaic Whispers, The Pikers, SensAsian, Staam, The Stereotypes, and Sur Awaaz. An umbrella organization known as ACAC (A Cappella Advisory Council) oversees auditions for its member groups each fall. Many of these groups are continually selected for national collegiate a cappella compilations, such as BOCA and Voices Only. The Stereotypes have also made it to the top 8 groups of the Midwest for the past three consecutive years in the International Championship of Collegiate A Cappella and represented the Midwest as its sole competitor at the International Competition at Lincoln Center in 2011 where they placed 4th and received the award for Outstanding Arrangement.
Another student-run music group, the Wash U Pops Orchestra (a.k.a. "WU Pops"), was founded in the '07-'08 school year in the spirit of traditional pops orchestras. It has grown significantly enough since founding to have spawned two chamber groups. The full orchestra performs at least once a semester, with the chamber groups performing many smaller gigs both on and off campus.
The university also has a Department of Music that, in addition to providing concentrated study for music majors, also provides instrument and voice lessons to students. There are also a number of instrumental groups and ensembles in which students may participate.
Other student organizations, such as the Social Programming Board bring in popular musical acts for Walk In Lay Down and lesser-known independent performers. Recent WILD performers include Karmin, Chance the Rapper, Wolfgang Gartner, and Matt Kearney.
Campus buildings Most of the buildings built between 1902 and the 1950s were designed by Cope and Stewardson and Jamieson and Spearl. James P. Jamieson was the chief architect for those built before 1940.
Arts and Sciences Adolphus Busch Hall – Named for Adolphus Busch, co-founder of Anheuser-Busch, the building was the first to go under construction on the Danforth Campus, its cornerstone being laid in 1900. Busch Hall served as the Chemistry Building from 1902 until 1950. It was then remodeled into a humanities building, which it currently serves as today. Busch Hall was recently renovated and reopened June 15, 2009.
Beaumont Pavilion – An outdoor stage that sits in front of Cupples I. It was built in 1965 and named after Louis D. Beaumont. The stage is used for annual commencement ceremonies, the semesterly W.I.L.D. concert, and other outdoor theater productions and concerts. Brookings Hall – The hallmark of Washington University. Named after Robert S. Brookings, it was completed in 1902 and served as the administrative center for the 1904 World's Fair. Today, it serves as the university's administrative center. South Brookings houses the Admissions Office and the Administrative offices for the College of Arts and Sciences. North Brookings houses the office of Student Financial Services, the office of the chancellor, and the graduate school of Arts and Sciences. Busch Laboratory – Completed in 1959, the lab was built as an extension of Rebstock Hall. It is only and three stories high, helping to house the Biology Department. Compton Laboratory of Physics – A , 5 level structure, the Compton Lab was dedicated in 1966. It houses the Department of Physics and the Physics Library. Crow Hall – Dedicated in 1934, it is named for Wayman Crow, a founding member of the university. The building is not subject to the Earth's natural vibrations and contains a shaft that expands the full height of the building. It also houses the Department of physics and the historic Crow Observatory. Cupples I Hall – This is the first building donated to the university by Samuel Cupples, in 1900. It currently houses the Math Department. Duncker Hall – Dedicated in 1923, Duncker Hall housed the School of Commerce and Finance. It is one of the three buildings to have housed the School of Business for over three years (Prince Hall and Simon Hall are the other two). Duncker Hall now houses the English Department. Eads Hall – This building was the site of the experimental work that Arthur Holly Compton conducted to win the Nobel Prize in 1927. It went through an extensive renovation in 1998 and today houses the Arts and Sciences Computing Center, the Language and Instructional Media Center, the Teaching Center, and the Writing Center. Earth and Planetary Sciences Building – Dedicated in 2004, this building is the new home of the Earth and Planetary Sciences Department.