University of Dayton

University of Dayton

For God and Country: Learn. Lead. Serve.

Background Information: “Challenging minds, shaping the future, embracing faith.” These principles guide life at the University of Dayton, one of the United States’ most prominent Catholic universities and the largest private university in the state of Ohio. Founded in 1850 by the Society of Mary, UD strives to create an environment that fosters education of the “whole person through a community of challenge and support,” as it focuses on students’ preparation for both work and life. The university prides itself in its commitment to service and diversity, as well as its self-proclaimed friendly atmosphere, contributing to its place among the nation’s top-tier institutions. Dayton, Ohio is the university’s home, an urban city of close to 100,000 residents. (UDayton website)

Initial Thoughts: The only thing that I knew about Dayton (and the reason why I didn't apply) is that my high school always sent a good portion of seniors from our graduating classes to UD. I didn't even do research on it because I knew that I didn't want to be at a place known as [my high school]'s West. I imagine this is a big draw for some people -- to go to a place that was not completely unknown, to have a bit of "home" away from home, to have a piece of high school still in tact -- but its very appeal for some was the big turn-off for me.

The Campus

• Layout: I always have trouble describing schools that do not have official "separators" (quads, greens, etc), and Dayton just happens to be one of those schools. There are a few areas that have specific names, but as for the rest of campus, I must admit that my attempt to describe the campus layout will be a very feeble one; nevertheless, let us begin. I started my tour at St. Joseph's Courtyard, a place that houses the famous blue dome, St. Joe's Hall (class room buildings), and the Humanities Center. Right next to the Jesse Philips Humanities Center is Humanities Plaza, an open green space where you will see many familiar faces going to and from class. Next, we jump to Central Mall, another open green space that is also home to Kennedy Union (the student center). I really don't know how to describe Dayton's campus in a very descriptive manner since I find it to be kind of random. The dormitories are somewhat close to one another, but they are not isolated into one section of campus. I apologize for this very unhelpful section, and ask you to look at the campus map to see what I mean.
  
  
• Architecture: The prettiest part of campus has to be St. Joseph's Courtyard, featuring the blue dome and the adjacent St. Joe's Hall. I expected the rest of the buildings to have the same architecture style as these 2 buildings, but was sorely disappointed. The rest of campus all featured red-bricked buildings, but they were not incredibly note-worthy. They looked more standard than stylistically fulfilling.
  
  
• Scale: Dayton is a very walk-able campus, and since first year students are not allowed cars on-campus, this is quite ideal. According to a former UD student, UD parking rules are quite stringent and something to be desired, anyway. All in all, he estimates that one can get from one corner of the campus to the other in approximately 15-20 minutes.
  
  
• The Student Center: UD's RecPlex features the following services for its students --- (according to Dayton A-Z) "The RecPlex includes a swimming pool, weight room, aerobic workout room, racquetball courts, tennis courts, volleyball courts, and basketball courts. In addition, the RecPlex holds many classrooms, is home of The Chill, and includes a rock climbing wall on the first floor!"
  
  
• Student Living: According to University statistics, approximately 90% of the student population chooses to live in either the residence halls or in the student neighborhoods around campus. First year students will live in one of these four residence halls – Founders, Marianist, Stuart, or Marycrest. After the first year, many students will opt to live in student apartments or a house (both located in the student neighborhood owned by UD). According to my tour guide, the residence halls and student neighborhoods are her favorite part of UD; these are the truly “sacred” places where you will meet your life-long friends. UD really prides itself on being an open community to people of all backgrounds.
  
  
• Notable attractions: I found St. Joseph's Courtyard to be very pretty, and St. Joe's Hall to be one of the most visually appealing buildings on campus. I wish I could say the same about the blue dome, but unfortunately, we were not lead into the famous chapel. I found this to be particularly disappointing, since the dome is the most recognizable feature that UD has to offer.

Final conclusions: I toured the University of Dayton on a very lovely summer day, perhaps seeing Dayton in the most idealistic way possible with the shining sun and bright blue sky. Even on this picturesque day, I found myself a bit disappointed with Dayton’s campus – I saw a lot of potential in it, but for the most part, it fell kind of flat. It’s not that the campus was ugly by any means (there were quite a few pretty parts), but it wasn’t what I would call striking either. I guess a good word to use is the word average. There wasn’t anything incredibly “notable” about Dayton’s campus; even the blue dome was a disappointment because the tour did not lead into the chapel (admittedly, it might have been under construction). I wish I had more to say about Dayton’s campus, but I find myself a bit apathetic about it --- so much so that I am tempted to say that it was "fine." Dayton was "fine" -- it wasn't notable, it wasn't ugly, it wasn't stunning -- it was somewhere in between. It was fine.

Photostream of Dayton: see the campus in pictures!

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