Washington State University

Campus

The Pullman Campus is 620 acres (2.5 km²), seven miles from the Washington-Idaho border and Moscow, ID, and located in the Palouse region. The Palouse is defined by unique rolling hills that were created by wind-blown soil, which supports one of the world's most productive agriculture regions in the world (crops are wheat, peas & lentils). Evenings are often highlighted by a spectacular blue-pink sunset, which the first Board of Regents decided to use as the college's colors (later changed to the more masculine crimson & gray). Perched on a hill, the campus overlooks Main Street Pullman. WSU alumni are known for having "Cougar Calves," gained from years of walking the hills of Pullman.

Related Topics:
Pullman - Moscow, ID - Palouse

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Buildings

Most campus buildings are red-bricked and can be characterized as utilitarian, a fitting style for the land-grant university work ethic and standards of fiduciary prudence. The heart of campus is Glenn Terrell Mall, named after the WSU President during the tumultuous 1970s (his secretary was known to scheduled meetings 10 minutes later to make up for the time President Terrell would spend talking to students on the way). The library, student union, and main classroom buildings surround the Mall. The football stadium, Martin Stadium, also figures prominently into the campus. The stadium, the smallest in the Pac-10, is situated in the core of the campus with the south grandstands built into the Hill (the IT Building is actually part of the south grandstands), and the library and the biotech building overlooking the west & east ends, respectively.

Related Topics:
Glenn Terrell - Martin Stadium

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The exception to the utilitarian style is Thompson Hall, Bryan Hall, and Stevens Hall, among a few others, the oldest & smallest buildings on campus. Thompson Hall was the old administration building, now home to foreign languages, modeled exactly after a French castle. Thompson duplicates incompletion of the French castle with one of its two tourets not having a pitched roof, due to a strange construction tax law in France. Bryan Hall is the landmark building on campus with the huge four-sided clock & carrillon that lights up neon-red in the evening. By rule, the clock tower remains the highest point on campus. Stevens Hall is an all-women's dormatory pitched with many gables. These three buildings are on the National Register of Historic Places.

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Also notable are the Lewis Alumni Centre and the Webster Physical Science Building. Lewis is an old dairy barn that was renovated in 1989 to be the most luxurious building on campus, with hand-made rugs, palm trees, Italian marble, and fantastic artwork. Rooms in Lewis include the Board of Regents' Boardroom, Lighty Library, Athletics Hall of Fame, Alumni Presidents' Room, and a Great Hall for large social events. Webster is the tallest building on campus with twelve above ground floors of offices and a great roof view of the region. In fact, if you combine Pullman's elevation and Webster's height, Webster is the highest point of learning in Washington state. Because it is downhill from Bryan Hall it remains lower on the university skyline.

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Residential & Commuter Campus

The Pullman campus is a residential and commuter campus, depending on the point of view one takes. Most freshmen live in residence halls, but some live in fraternity and sorority houses. If students can prove financial hardship they are allowed to live off campus. After first year, many students move to apartments, several owned by WSU. Most apartments are less than a mile off campus. Apartment renters have the benefit of the free Pullman Transit, noted as moving more people/mile of transit than any other bus system in the U.S. This is a good thing because parking, as on most campuses, is atrocious.

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College Hill & Greek Row

About 17 percent of students are in the Greek system, so Greek Row figures prominently on the campus. Greek row is situated on College Hill (really, the same hill that the university is on), just downhill from Bryan Hall and The Hill Halls (the historic single-gender dormatories), and among the homes of faculty, Greek live-outs, and apartment buildings. Greek Row and College Hill is a diverse community of students, faculty members, and families (including the President's House). Bars, hair salons, a used book store, and restaurants line Colorado Street, the main street on College Hill. College Hill can get quite rowdy during the fall football season with many students roaming the streets in the evening in search of a bar or party.

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Recreation & Outdoors

Recreation and the Outdoors figure largely into campus life. The Student Recreation Center is the largest student recreation center in the country, complete with an indoor track, four basketball courts, two volleyball courts, roller hockey rink, four raquetball courts, swimming pool, 50-some person jacuzzi, free weights, weight machines, cardio equipment, several exercise intruction rooms, massage therapist, and outdoor sand volleyball courts and a low to high ropes course. The campus also has several more basketball courts, dance rooms, a climbing wall, and Ourdoor Recreation Center to check out equipment or go on outdoor excursions. A seven mile paved trail links Pullman, WA with Moscow, ID and a bike trail wraps around the entirety of the Pullman campus (about 8 miles long). The intramural program is one of the largest in the country; the most sought after t-shirt is that shirt won for being an intramural champion. Club sports are also very popular on campus. The campus also boasts a 9-hole golf course (which is undergoing plans to become an NCAA-certified, 18-hole course).

Related Topics:
Pullman, WA - Moscow, ID - NCAA

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Within 15 miles, many students hike or bike Kamiak Butte, Steptoe Butte, and Moscow Mountain on the weekends, or cliff jump and boat on the Snake River. Others go a little farther for white-river raft, downhill ski, and hike in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains.

Related Topics:
Snake River - Rocky Mountains

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Weather

The weather is beautiful but hot in the summer, with air conditioning required for optimal comfort, windy and occasionally rainy in the fall, cold, foggy and snowy in the winter and rainy again in spring. On any given day, all four seasons can be experienced, sometimes simultaneously. Early fall on the Palouse is wonderful; warm days change to cool, crisp days & evenings.

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