Navigating Oakland University: A Comprehensive Guide to Location, Access, and Resources

Oakland University (OU), a public research university, is situated in southeastern Michigan, nestled between Flint and Detroit. Its expansive 1,443-acre campus spans two cities: Auburn Hills and Rochester Hills. Understanding the university's location, how to get there, and the resources available is crucial for students, faculty, staff, and visitors alike.

Location and Directions

Oakland University is located between Adams Road and Squirrel Road, just south of Walton Boulevard. The campus extends into two cities, Auburn Hills and Rochester Hills.

Driving Directions:

From I-75: Take I-75 to exit 79 and go east on University Drive to the main entrance of campus.
From M-59: Take M-59 to the Squirrel Road exit and go north to the main entrance of campus at the corner of University Drive.

Finding the Oakland Center

The Oakland Center is located in the heart of Oakland University's main campus. To get to the Oakland Center from the main entrance of campus, drive around the circle drive past the first entrance to Meadow Brook Road until you get to the second entrance to Meadow Brook Road and turn right. The Oakland Center is located on the right side of the road between North and South Foundation Halls. The best place to park is in Parking Lot 1.

Parking Information

Oakland University does not require parking passes or stickers anywhere on campus, and free parking is available in Parking Lot 1 as well as in other lots on campus.

Oakland Center Administration

The Oakland Center Administration can be found in room 151 of the Oakland Center. They can also be reached by calling 248-370-3245. Monday through Friday.

A Brief History of Oakland University

Oakland University was founded in 1957 through a donation of Matilda Dodge Wilson and husband Alfred G. Wilson. Matilda Dodge Wilson co-founded Michigan State University-Oakland, now Oakland University, with her husband Alfred Wilson, and John A. In 1920, Matilda inherited John's fortune upon his death, soon remarrying to a lumber baron, Alfred G. Wilson. Oakland University was created in 1957 when Matilda Dodge Wilson and her second husband, Alfred Wilson, donated their 1,443-acre (5.84 km2) estate to Michigan State University, including Meadow Brook Hall, Sunset Terrace and all the estate's other buildings and collections, along with $2 million. Main campus buildings were completed on Squirrel Road in Pontiac Township (now the city of Auburn Hills).

Key Historical Moments

1957: Oakland University was founded through a donation of Matilda Dodge Wilson and husband Alfred G.
2009: Tenured faculty members represented by the Oakland University chapter of the American Association of University Professors went on strike.
2011: Oakland University hosted a debate between Republican presidential candidates on 9 November 2011.
2013: The Oakland University Board of Trustees approved a $65 million investment in campus expansion and improvement projects.
2017: On 4 May 2017, the board announced Ora Hirsch Pescovitz as Oakland University's seventh president.

Academic Profile

Oakland University is one of the eight research universities in the State of Michigan and is classified among "R2: Doctoral Universities - High research activity". The university offers 132 bachelor's degree programs and 138 professional graduate certificate, master's degree, and doctoral degree programs, including those offered by the Oakland University William Beaumont School of Medicine.

Colleges and Schools

The main academic units of the university are:

The College of Arts and Sciences
The School of Business Administration
The School of Education and Human Services
The School of Engineering and Computer Science
The School of Health Sciences
School of Nursing
The Oakland University William Beaumont School of Medicine

Oakland University William Beaumont School of Medicine

In 2007, plans were established to start a medical school on the Oakland University campus in partnership with William Beaumont Hospital, called the Oakland University William Beaumont School of Medicine (OUWB or OUWBSM) came to fruition. The medical school was founded in 2008 with classes starting in fall of 2011. OUWB is the fourth medical school in the state of Michigan to offer the M.D. degree, received over 3,200 applications for the inaugural class of 50 students.

Accreditation

Oakland University's School of Business Administration (SBA) is accredited by the AACSB-International accreditation in both business and accounting.

Admissions

For the Class of 2025 (enrolled fall 2021), Oakland University received 10,475 applications and accepted 9,661 (92.2%). Of those accepted, 2,025 enrolled, a yield rate (the percentage of accepted students who choose to attend the university) of 21.0%.

Campus Features and Facilities

The university's site comprises the Main Campus, Meadow Brook Estate, and two nationally ranked golf courses spread across 1,443 acres (5.84 km2).

Meadow Brook Hall

This portion of Oakland University consists of the historic Meadow Brook Hall and the land and buildings surrounding it. The hall, which is a 110-room Tudor revival-style mansion completed in 1929 as Oakland University founder Matilda Dodge Wilson's Oakland County estate, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Meadow Brook Hall is the fourth-largest historic house museum in the United States, and houses a vast collection of historically significant art and furniture, including paintings by Rembrandt, Anthony van Dyck, Rosa Bonheur, Gilbert Stuart, Joshua Reynolds, John Constable, and Thomas Gainsborough, as well as sculptures by Antoine-Louis Barye, Frederic Remington, Cyrus Edwin Dallin, and Herbert Haseltine.

Meadow Brook Music Festival

The Meadow Brook Music Festival is an outdoor entertainment venue with an on-site pavilion which accommodates close to 8,000 people. In addition to being the site of spring-time graduation ceremonies, Meadow Brook Music Festival also hosts comedians and musical acts.

Golf Courses

Oakland University has two nationally ranked golf courses that make up most of the southern portion of its land. Katke-Cousins sits on 320 acres (130 ha). Some of the course's 18 holes remain from the 9-hole course John Dodge built when he lived at the estate.

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Oakland Center

Oakland University's student union, the Oakland Center, was renovated and expanded in 2018. The Oakland Center houses the offices of student organizations, a large food court with multiple restaurants, the student bookstore, a cafe, a pool hall and gaming center, a Student Technology Center, the campus newspaper The Oakland Post, computer labs, conference rooms, as well as the offices of the university radio station, WXOU (88.3 FM).

Kresge Library

Kresge Library is the main library of Oakland University. It consists of four floors of study rooms and open-area tables. It also contains the Oakland University Archives, the Historical Abraham Lincoln Collection, the Jane M.

Oakland University Art Gallery

The Oakland University Art Gallery is a civic art exhibition venue in Rochester Hills, Michigan. Former Professor of Art History and Archeology Carl F. Barnes Jr., and Anna M. Barnes donated their collection of over 500 prints in 1999. Collections highlights include the print oeuvre of English print maker and portrait painter Gerald Brockhurst. The Tagore Collection was donated by Dr. Abanindranath Tagore in 1989. It contains calligraphy, rubbings, and scrolls. G. Mennen Williams, the 41st Governor of Michigan, donated his collection in to the gallery in 1968. Williams held the position of Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs during the Kennedy administration and bequeathed objects acquired during his tours of duty. The Oakland University Art Gallery hosts at least five exhibitions per year, in addition to hosting a variety of lectures, performances, and symposium.

Disc Golf Course

In 2009, an 18-hole disc golf course opened.

Oakland West Center

In April 2022, the Oakland University Board of Trustees approved the purchase of 18 acres of property two miles west of the main campus. The property contains a 141,245 square-foot building that had previously been used by Baker College. The property is now named "Oakland West Center". The university began offering classes at the center in late Summer 2022, with Baker College and Oakland University classes co-existing in the center during the Summer and Fall 2022 semesters. Oakland University's new West Center (OWC) is located at 1500 University Drive, just two miles west of the main campus.

Anton/Frankel Center

An office plaza in downtown Mount Clemens, in Macomb County, was donated to the university in 2010 by Gebran Anton and Stuart Frankel. It was repurposed and opened for the fall 2011 semester as the Anton/Frankel Center. It offered several undergraduate and graduate programs. In the summer of 2024, the university discontinued class offerings from the location and vacated the building.

Housing

Although many of Oakland's students commute from surrounding areas, there are more than 3,000 who live on campus in a variety of residence halls and student apartments. The residence halls include Hillcrest Hall, Oak View Hall, Hamlin Hall, Van Wagoner Hall, and Vandenberg Hall. Residential learning communities on Oakland University's campus include Scholars Tower and the Residential Honors College community. Eight additional buildings make up the George T. Matthews student apartments, and six major Tudor-style buildings house the Ann V.

Athletics

Previously known as the Pioneers, Oakland's athletic teams were renamed the Golden Grizzlies in 1998. "OU Fight" is the Oakland University fight song. Oakland University's men's soccer team became the first Oakland team to move past the first round of their sport's respective NCAA tournament in 2007.

Relationship with Rochester

In addition to its location in the cities of Auburn Hills and Rochester Hills, Oakland University maintains an official "hometown" relationship with the nearby but not adjacent city of Rochester, Michigan. University and city officials signed a partnership agreement in 2003 to officially recognize the relationship between Rochester and Oakland University. In 1959, Rochester Village (now city) officials renamed the one-mile-long (1.6 km) Fifth Street in downtown Rochester "University Drive" to showcase Rochester as a "college town". The road is called Walton Boulevard adjacent to the University in Rochester Hills and Auburn Hills. This is often confused with University Drive in Auburn Hills, which originates at Oakland University's main entrance in Auburn Hills, and continues west into downtown Pontiac.

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