University of Illinois Main Quad, Illinois, United States

5Vijay103 5:00 PM Feb 13, 2020

Visited to experience the knowledge richness of UIUC Champaign - I salute QUAD
I got opportunity to visit this place in September & December 2019. I do not have words to describe the richness and the importance of this university.This was such an extraordinary feeling to watch this place during the day and after sunset in lights. So much of talent in the air all around. The QUAD stands tall so fabulous !! I salute this center of knowledge and accomplishment !! Honored to stand in the center lawn and watch the QUAD all around.

5Taylor B 5:00 PM Oct 10, 2014

The Main Quad--the hub of the Illinois campus
For some unexplained reason, TripAdvisor publishes reviews on some universities--but not Illinois. As far as TripAdvisor is concerned, the U. of I. is an "unlisted property." Instead, there are reviews for Illinois' Assembly Hall (now State Farm Center), the Main Quad, the Ice Arena, the arboretum, even the golf course. Well, the Main Quad is the hub of the Urbana-Champaign campus so this will have to do for a review of my alma mater. I graduated from the University of Illinois in 1962 and I can't say I've ever visited another college campus that was any more impressive. Sure, I'm biased but Illinois has some significant buildings and sites that separate the university from other major educational institutions. Start with the Main Quad, which draws students daily as they walk from classroom to classroom, from the Student Union on the north end to Foellinger Auditorium on the south end. I walked daily from Gregory Hall (Journalism) to Lincoln Hall (literature) to Altgeld Hall (English) to Noyes Lab (science) to Illini Hall (Daily Illini). Founded in 1867, Illinois is a world leading magnet for engineering and science. The engineering campus on the north end of the campus used to be the site of Illini Field, where Illinois played football in the early 1900s and baseball in the 1930s, 1940s, 1950s and 1960s. Bill Gates said his firm, Microsoft, hired more employees from Illinois than any other college in the world. Illinois has the second largest university library in the country and the fifth largest overall in the United States. Did you know that the university's first president, John Milton Gregory, is buried between the administration building and Altgeld Hall? Illinois alum and professor John Bardeen is the only two-time recipient of the Nobel Price in physics. Illinois also is a leader in agriculture. The Morrow Plots, planted on campus north of the Main Quad and east of the library in 1876, are the oldest agronomic experiment fields in the United States with the longest continuous corn plot in the world. Illinois also boasts two of the most iconic sports venues in the country, Memorial Stadium, built in 1923, and the Assembly Hall, built in 1963. And don't forget the Krannert Art Museum and the renovated Huff Gym. The Daily Illini has long been one of the leading college newspapers in the country. And Illinois is host to the largest Greek system in the country with nearly 100 fraternities and sororities. It is so big that it takes two towns (Champaign and Urbana) to contain it all, 647 buildings covering 4,552 acres. There has been considerable construction since I was a student...new residence halls, engineering campus, more classroom facilities, baseball and softball and soccer fields, new law school and renovated Memorial Stadium. Even old Assembly Hall, now renamed State Farm Center and celebrating its 51st year (am I really that old?) is undergoing a massive renovation. But it all begins at the Main Quad, where students sit in the grass, relax and study in the sunshine and toss frisbees or footballs to and fro. It all makes for a picture postcard, a Norman Rockwell painting.