Central Plaza (Red Square)

Red Square is paved with red bricks and sits atop the Central Plaza parking garage.

The Broken Obelisk, a steel sculpture on the edge of Red Square, was a gift to the university from the Virginia Wright Fund. It is one of the few sculptures by Barnett Newman, who was known primarily for his abstract color field paintings. The work is 26 feet high and weighs two tons.

Suzzallo Library

The library was named for educator Henry Suzzallo, university president from 1915 to 1926, when he was ousted following a prolonged controversy with the governor. Suzzallo left an outstanding record of accomplishment. When he became president, the university had only 3,000 students. When he left office, the student body had increased to 6,850, the curriculum had been expanded, and a building program had been started that culminated in many of the handsome neo-gothic structures on the campus. His dismissal did not blemish his national reputation. He subsequently became president of the Carnegie Foundation, but he always maintained a residence at the Olympic Hotel. He died in Seattle while visiting here in 1933.

The library, designed by Carl Gould, was built in 1926 and was named for Suzzallo seven years later. There are three figures above the west entrance to Suzzallo: Thought, Inspiration, and Mastery. They represent phases in the way one thinks.

Kane Hall

In 1971, Kane Hall, a classroom-auditorium building, was completed and named for the beleaguered 14th president of the university, Thomas F. Kane. He was a calm, scholarly man whose 12-year term, from 1902 to 1914, was a period of phenomenal growth during which the student body increased from 650 to 2,824 people.

But, the regents felt that Kane had not grown with the university and requested his resignation. Kane refused, believing that politics was meddling in academe. When he finally was compelled to leave office, he became the president of Olivet College and then of the University of North Dakota. He was held in high esteem by fellow educators, who elected him president of the National Association of State Universitites in 1913.

Odegaard Undergraduate Library

Odegaard Undergraduate Library was built in 1972 and named for Charles E. Odegaard, who retired from the university presidency in 1973 after a 15-year term. At the dedication ceremonies he remarked that he was particularly appreciative that a library should bear his name, for "books are great instruments for voyages of discovery into the heart of man and into the nature of the universe."

By George, a deli-cafeteria offering indoor and outdoor dining, is in the lower corner of the library.

Central Campus Tour