University of Iowa: A Journey Through Notable Landmarks and Enduring Traditions

The University of Iowa (UI), a public research university in Iowa City, stands as a beacon of education, research, and service. From its humble beginnings in 1847, welcoming its inaugural class of 124 students in 1855, the UI has steadily grown, marked by iconic landmarks and evolving traditions. The "Together Hawkeyes" campaign builds on this legacy, ushering in a new era of campus growth.

The Pentacrest: Heart of the University

Over one hundred years, Old Capitol and the Pentacrest have stood as the symbolic center of the University of Iowa campus. The Pentacrest, comprised of five major buildings-Old Capitol, Schaeffer Hall, MacLean Hall, Macbride Hall, and Jessup Hall-at the center of the University of Iowa Campus. Yet in truth, this iconic collection of five classically-designed buildings, systematically placed on this unique 10-acre plot of land, was never on anyone’s radar screen prior to the turn of the 20th century.

Old Capitol: From Statehouse to University Landmark

The UI’s story begins with the Old Cap. In 1847, the first General Assembly established a university to train the new state’s doctors, lawyers, and other professionals on the bluff overlooking the Iowa River. When the state legislature moved to Des Moines a decade later, Old Cap became the university’s first permanent address. In 1976, Old Capitol became a National Historic Landmark and public museum.

The Old Capitol has represented the pioneering spirit of Iowa and the University of Iowa for more than 150 years. It served as Iowa’s first state capitol from 1846 to 1857. The building housed the Fifth Legislative Assembly of the Territory of Iowa, following the placing of the cornerstone July 4, 1840, and then became the first capitol building of the State of Iowa on December 28, 1846. It had been the third capitol of the Territory of Iowa until that date.

The "New University" Plan and the Construction of the Pentacrest

In October 1897, SUI President Charles A. Schaeffer suggested a plan where two of the oldest buildings on University Square - South Hall (1861) and North Hall (1865) - be replaced with a new Liberal Arts building. The Board of Regents agreed, hiring Henry Van Brundt of Kansas City as contest judge - one of the major architects of the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair. Van Brundt looked over the entries and chose a design that was created in the grand style of his Chicago exhibition building, recommending that this new building - The Hall of Liberal Arts - be built on University Square - immediately to the southeast of Old Capitol.

In 1900, with the construction of the new Liberal Arts building underway, the new SUI President - George MacLean picked up on the late President Schaeffer’s expansion ideas, proposing a dramatic ‘New University‘ plan. This forward-looking idea would 1) eliminate, not just South Hall & North Hall, butall of the existing buildings surrounding Old Capitol, and 2), replace this current “hodge podge” of buildings with three modern facilities - all similar in size and style to the new Hall of Liberal Arts.

Between 1901 and 1924, MacLean’s ‘New University’ plan went into high gear, resulting in a massive dismantling of the SUI Red Brick Campus of 1895. With MacLean’s ‘New University‘ plan now underway, the idea of tearing down University Square’s newest building - The Science Building - located to the north and east of Old Capitol and built in 1884 - was protested heavily.

Originally named University Hall, this fourth and final building of the ‘New University’ plan was completed in 1924. Later renamed Jessup Hall, the building shared the same smaller dimensions of nearby MacLean Hall and originally housed the Departments of Education, Commerce, and English until the latter moved to the English-Philosophy Building in 1970. At that time, UI President Willard L. Boyd transferred his office from Old Capitol to the more spacious vacated administrative suite, and today, the building houses the Office of the President, Office of the Vice President, the Provost Office, and Finance and Operations, among other departments.

The Pentacrest reflects the Beaux-Arts in addition to Greek Revival architectural styles and the Collegiate Gothic architecture, which is dominant in sections of the campus east of the Iowa River. Its leafy lawn hosts pep rallies, homecoming concerts, and daily study sessions, while Pentacrest Museums welcome tours of the Old Cap and Museum of Natural History.

Naming the Pentacrest

In the 1920’s, as the completion of University Hall was at hand, and a complete re-purposing of Old Capitol was being done, many Iowa Citians continued calling the central SUI campus by its best-known name - University Square. In order to settle the long-standing issue, a naming contest was announced in The Daily Iowan on December 11, 1924.

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Today, the Pentacrest stands as the symbolic center of The University of Iowa.

Academic and Research Hubs

The UI boasts a diverse range of academic and research facilities, reflecting its commitment to innovation and discovery.

UI Hospitals & Clinics and the Carver College of Medicine

The first university-based teaching hospital west of the Mississippi River opened on the university’s main campus in 1898a 50-bed facility (later renamed Seashore Hall) built at a cost of $55,000. UI Hospitals & Clinics is one of the nation’s largest teaching hospitals with 16,500 employees, students, and volunteers. The highly ranked Carver College of Medicine, meanwhile, is situated on an ever-growing health sciences campus that features 11 buildings housing classrooms, laboratories, and clinics. Construction at UI Health Care’s new North Liberty medical campus is ongoing and is set to open in 2025. Construction has also begun just south of Slater Hall on the future Health Sciences Academic Building, which will be home to three nationally ranked programs: communications sciences and disorders, physical therapy, and health and human physiology. At the same time, UI Hospitals & Clinics is in the planning stages for a new inpatient tower that would add more than 200 beds to its main medical campus, sparked by a $70 million gift from the Richard O.

Each year, patients make more than 1 million clinic visits to the main medical campus and outreach clinics from Dubuque to Sioux City.

IIHR-Hydroscience & Engineering

IIHR-Hydroscience & Engineering is a world-renowned center for education, research, and public service focusing on hydraulic engineering and fluid mechanics. Based in the C. Maxwell Stanley Hydraulics Laboratory, a five-story red brick building on the banks of the Iowa River, IIHR is a unit of the University of Iowa's College of Engineering. Because of its contributions to water's study and use, the American Society of Civil Engineers recognized the Stanley Hydraulics Lab as a National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark.

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The University Libraries

The University of Iowa library system is the state's largest library and comprises the Main Library, the Hardin Library for the Health Sciences, five branch libraries, and the Law Library. The University Libraries' holdings include more than five million bound volumes, more than 200,000 rare books, and 1000 historical manuscript collections.

Athletic Landmarks

Iowa boasts some of the top athletics facilities in the Big Ten.

Kinnick Stadium

Iowa played its first football and baseball games on fields along the east banks of the Iowa River in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Iowa Stadiumdecades later renamed Nile Kinnick Stadiumopened in 1929. Kinnick Stadium remains one of college football’s great cathedrals and has undergone several transformations, most recently the $89 million makeover in 2019 that enhanced the north end zone. Kinnick Stadium is the largest venue is the 70,585-seat. Opening in 1929 as Iowa Stadium, it was renamed in 1977 after Nile Kinnick, winner of the 1939 Heisman Trophy.

Other Athletic Facilities

The Field House debuted in 1927, featuring what was at the time the world’s largest indoor collegiate pool. Meanwhile, the university launched a nearly $24 million campaign earlier this year to revitalize the Iowa baseball complex and Duane Banks Field. And the Hawkeye Women: RISE campaign recently kicked off with the goal of building a new women’s gymnastics and Iowa Spirit Squads training center.

Most of the school's athletic facilities are located on the west end of campus.

Arts and Culture

The UI has a long-standing tradition of fostering creativity and artistic expression.

The Arts Campus and the 2008 Flood

The 1936 opening of the original Art Buildingwhere professors like Grant Wood and Philip Guston worked and taughtestablished Iowa’s renown as a haven for artists on the west banks of the Iowa River.

The flood of 2008 changed everything at Iowa, and the arts campus was particularly devastated. The $750 million disaster led to the demolition of the original Hancher-Voxman-Clapp complex and the years-long displacement of the art museum collection and art, music, and theater programs. Iowa became a national model for flood prevention and recovery as it rebuilt Hancher (2016), a performing arts jewel that perches above the river uphill from the original site, and relocated Voxman Music Building downtown to create new campus and community connections. The original Art Building and Museum of Art flooded in 2008, but both structures were preserved and could be given a second life as part of the UI’s 10-year facilities strategy. Plans are already taking shape to relocate the UI Dance Department from Halsey Hall to the former art museum, placing the state’s only comprehensive dance program in the heart of the arts campus.

Public Art Collection

The University of Iowa holds and continues to commission an extensive collection of public art. The program began under the Iowa State 'Art in State Buildings Program,' one of the first percent for art programs in the United States since repealed in 2017.

Iowa Writers' Workshop

The University of Iowa established the first law school and dental school west of the Mississippi River. Under the leadership of Carl Seashore in 1922, Iowa became the first university in the United States to accept creative projects as theses for advanced degrees. The university's Program in Creative Writing, known worldwide as the Iowa Writers' Workshop, was founded in 1936 with the gathering together of writers of both poetry and fiction. It was the first creative writing program in the country, and it became the prototype for more than 300 writing programs, many of which were founded by Workshop alumni. Since 1947 it has produced thirteen Pulitzer Prize winners. Twenty-five people affiliated with the Writers' Workshop have won a Pulitzer Prize.

Student Life and Traditions

The University of Iowa offers a vibrant student life, enriched by a variety of traditions and organizations.

Campus Traditions

The University of Iowa is known for its beloved traditions, including the Hawkeye Wave to patients at the nearby children’s hospital during football games, Homecoming Week, On Iowa! welcome events for new students, performances by the Hawkeye Marching Band, and the Iowa Fight Song-all of which foster school pride and a strong sense of community.

At a senior class meeting in spring of 1887, student Marvin H. Dey suggested the university was behind the times in failing to adopt school colors and a school song. A committee subsequently recommended gold as a school color, and students approved the choice at a mass meeting. By 1891, gold had been accepted as Iowa’s color, but there was some question as to the shade-old gold or simply gold? It wasn’t until 1905 that the UI adopted an official song. University president George E. MacLean sponsored a contest for lyrics, offering a $20 prize.

The state of Iowa’s nickname is the Hawkeye State, and the University of Iowa borrowed its athletic nickname from the state many years ago. It is not clear how Iowans became Hawkeyes, but the nickname was first recorded in 1859. The name also got support from James G. Edwards of Fort Madison. Edwards, editor of the Fort Madison Patriot, moved his newspaper to Burlington, Iowa, and renamed it the Hawk-Eye and Iowa Patriot. The creator was Richard Spencer III, instructor of journalism. The impish hawk was an immediate hit. He acquired a name through a statewide contest. During a football game in 1959, Herky came to life as the Iowa mascot with a black leather head and gold felt feathers. When Hayden Fry took over the Iowa football program in 1979, he decided he wanted a new logo for the team’s helmet, something distinctive. He worked with a local graphic designer who sketched his first draft on a napkin-the polished version became the Tiger Hawk.

Student Organizations and Media

There are also over 500 student organizations, including groups focused on politics, sports, games, lifestyles, dance, song, theater, and a variety of other activities. Students participate in a variety of student media organizations. For example, students edit and manage The Daily Iowan newspaper (often called the DI), which is printed every Monday through Friday while classes are in session. Noted pollster George Gallup was an early editor of the DI.

Iowa City: A Hub for Culture and Education

Iowa City and the state of Iowa have grown up around its flagship public research university. After Iowa’s early leaders claimed this tract of land along the river in 1839 as the territorial capital and, soon after, the state capital, Iowa City became a hub for culture, commerce, and education. From its earliest days, downtown Iowa City was a destination for scholars and artists who arrived aboard stagecoaches and steamboats, and later passenger rail and motor carriages. Twenty-first century Iowa City consistently ranks among the nation’s best places to live and work thanks to its quality of life, educational opportunities, and cultural offerings. The ped mall, which saw extensive renovations this past decade, and the surrounding downtown district, is known for its lively mix of shops, restaurants, and nightlife.

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