Storrs: University of Connecticut

In December of 1880, Charles and Augustus Storrs donated 170 acres of land and $5,000 to establish the Storrs Agricultural School in Mansfield, Connecticut. They had been raised on the family farm in Mansfield and returned regularly for summer visits, but they made their marks as successful Victorian Era businessmen in New York.

The college opened September 28, 1881, with three faculty members and twelve students. It went through a handful of name changes, eventually becoming the University of Connecticut in 1939.

While the roots in agriculture remain deep, the university has become a diverse research institute with many state-of-the-art science buildings.

 

UConn shook both worlds when they successfully cloned a calf in 1999, and that cloned cow, which was 94 pounds at birth, went on to give birth to offspring of her own. Then again, there are also 18 places of worship on Religion Row on campus, keeping a balance of science with spiritual thought.  

Over the past ten years, a billion dollars has been spent upgrading and modernizing the campus. Some buildings like the impressive Student Union have been expanded, while others, like the $58 million Chemistry Building modeled to resemble a New England textile mill on the outside but futuristic science resaearch facility inside, are new construction.

One strong reason for my youngest daughter Amy choosing UConn is the peak physical condition of the facilities. The fact that it is set in a gorgeous bucolic setting makes the modern campus all the more remarkable. The $2.3 billion twenty year infrastructure investment is at about the halfway mark, which promises a bright future for UConn.

Embedded in this modern research institute is a small liberal arts college, the Honors Program, which welcomed Amy as part of the overall package to entice her to UConn. Many students accepted to prestigious Ivy League and private colleges have wisely chosen the University of Connecticut. The faculty in most cases teach their own classes rather than turning over the duties to teaching assistants, and they all seem to be passionate about their their institution as well as their subjects. The overall feel of the campus is optimism.

In the fall, Amy will move into Buckley Hall, which is the exclusive freshman housing for the Honors Program. An advantage of UConn is the ability to live on campus for all four years of undergraduate study. In fact, 93% of all students live on campus.