Denison University

Denison University

Background Information:

Founded in 1831, Denison is one of the earliest colleges to be established in the old “Northwest Territory,” west of the Allegheny Mountains and north of the Ohio River. Independent, residential, liberal arts and sciences. Granville, Ohio; 27 miles east of Columbus, the state capital.

"Our purpose is to inspire and educate our students to become autonomous thinkers, discerning moral agents and active citizens of a democratic society. Through an emphasis on active learning, we engage students in the liberal arts, which fosters self-determination and demonstrates the transformative power of education. We envision our students' lives as based upon rational choice, a firm belief in human dignity and compassion unlimited by cultural, racial, sexual, religious or economic barriers, and directed toward an engagement with the central issues of our time." (Denison website)

Initial Thoughts:

The thing that jumped out the most to me while I was researching Denison was that it did not seek to educate 4-year graduates, but rather, cultivate life-long learners. In fact, according to its "Core Values and Mission" page, a distinctively Denisonian education is not "just for a living" but for a life. Denisonians are challenged to be "curious, resourceful, and reflective" and use that curosity, resourcefulness, and intelligence to become contributing members of society. Denison's commitment to the growth of their undergraduates is sort of extraordinary -- so much so that Denison has refused to add a graduate program, opting instead to solely using its resources toward the betterment of their undergraduates. Denison's closed campus suggests that they want their students to learn from each other, without the influence of the attaching community's (Granville) politics. I'm not trying to attack Denison (since I too go to a school with a private campus), but I've always wondered if it's particularly helpful for students to be "closed off" from the world within their 4 years, and then asked to rejoin it and become participating members of it after graduation.

Notable features: virtual campus tour, Denison in Motion

The Campus

• Layout: The first thing that you should know about Denison is that it is located "on the hill" -- and very separated from the surrounding town of Granville. The drive up to Denison is marked by a gate surrounded by a lot of trees, which adds to the feeling of entering the "Denison Bubble" and leaving the outside world. Denison is organized into quadrangles (quads) -- North, South ("Lower Campus"), East, West, and Academic. Academic Quad is in the middle of campus, and as its name suggests, home to the academic buildings (as well as the Student Union). North Quad is home to the alcohol/susbstance free halls such as the honors dorm and also the community-service oriented dorm; it features the old fraternity houses that have been renovated to become student housing facilities. South Quad is for the more artistically inclined, housing the art building, cinema building, dance building, as well as the theater. Coincidentally, South Quad is most commonly referred to as the "Arts Quad" in the Denisonian vernacular. Aside from the multiple art buildings, South Quad also has a couple dorms for sophomores and juniors. West Quad is home to the freshmen/sophomore dorms, while East Quad houses the upperclassment; both of the dining halls are located on each respective Quad.
  
  
• Architecture: Designed by Frederick Law Olmstead (the man who designed the campuses for Stanford and Wellesley, and also Central Park in NYC), Denison is designed to look like the classic college campus -- what you would think of if you had to define "college campus" in mind's eye. Denison is mostly red-bricked (with the exception of a couple administrative buildings), and quite beautiful in a very typical kind of way. Settled in Granville, OH, I get the impression that Denison is the founder's way of paying homage to the east coast by bringing a typical east coast town/college to the Midwest.
  
  
• Scale: Everything at Denison is within walking distance (even the local grocery store). Crossing from one end of the campus to the other (East to West) is no more than a 20 minute walk. To get from Academic Quad to East Quad, one need not walk any longer than 10 minutes. It is possible to survive at Denison without a car since student life is located on campus rather than in Granville.
  
  
• The Student Center: Slaytor Student Union is home to the following services for the typical Denison student --- the campus bookstore, fast food eateries (Pizza Hut and Taco Bell), the mail center, an auditorium for lectures and movies, student activity offices, lounges to hang out in, and also The Roost (restaurant, dance floor, stage for musicians, pool tables).
  
  
• Student Living: Denison is definitely a residential campus, meaning that most of the student population (around 2,100 undergrads) choose to live on campus. There are a little bit over 30 halls/living communities on campus. As stated above, East Quad is home to the upperclassmen; West Quad has the freshmen and sophomores; South Quad, a few sophomores and juniors; and North Quad, the honors and community service oriented students. Aside from the typical dormitory, Denison also has two single sex dormitories, and about 16 fraternities and sororities. A good portion of the student population is "Greek" (around 35-40%), and while it does not dominate the social scene, Greek life does play a major role in the life of the Denison community.
  
  
• Notable Atttractions: Aside from the lovely Swasey Chapel, I also found the Campus Commons to be a nice sight --- quite perfect for lounging and hanging out with friends outside. For a better picture of the campus commons, please click here.

Final Conclusions: Overall, my visit to Denison was a nice one. Like I said before, Denison is lovely in a very classic and typical kind of way --- with its historic looking buildings and red-bricked campus, I feel like Denison's campus is of the type that college movies try to model its campus after. I think the best way to describe Denison is an east coast college located in small-town Ohio. Along with having great colleges/universities, I think the east coast is usually associated with "high class snobbery" -- and I don't know how, but for me, that "better than thou" feeling was somehow transferred into Denison and its campus. I think that was the most disappointing thing about my visit -- I didn't feel welcomed. Denison prides itself on having a very tight knit community of scholars who are educated by those who are top of their field -- which I do believe to be true -- but I think a negative in having such a "tight knit community" is that it is catered to a "type" and if you do not meet certain criteria, you might find yourself isolated from said community. So in conclusion --- is Denison's campus beautiful? Of course. Does it have exceptional academic programs? Yes, indeed it does. Is it for everyone? No. Not at all.

Photostream of Denison: view the campus in pictures!

Still not convinced? Experience it for yourself! Schedule a visit today!