In all the hubbub of the TRECC, last week’s conference, my exploration of the NC Triangle, and the close of the semester, one Road Trip milestone was brushed past rather unnoticed.
I recently explored College campus #100! The gloriously-titled Slippery Rock University, no less! And in just under 8 months of Exploring College Ministry.
[I later realized I had left a campus out – The University of Louisiana at Monroe! Bummer! AND THEN after the trip was all finished, I realized I’d also forgotten to add New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary – which came even earlier than ULM. So that kinda throws everything off count-wise… I’ve added those in below, without changing the numbers here. I’ll change the numbers on the official Itinerary, though.]
In case you’re curious, here is the list to 100, complete with my top-of-mind recollections. No pictures, no web sites – just what I remember right off the bat. It’s mostly pretty random stuff. Many of these quick-thoughts will make sense to everybody, but others may only mean somethin’ to those familiar with the campus. But I figure that’s okay – more fun for those in the know.
The first 48 recollections below were copied (with a few edits) from a post last semester, and it’s encouraging that I’ve already surpassed that campus total this semester…
The trip to Chicago
- Evangel College. (Campus number one. Took a nap.)
New Student Orientations & further Chicagoland exploration
- Trinity International University / Trinity Evangelical Divinity School (Gotta love a school named TEDS.)
- Wheaton College (Hangin’ in the Stupe. Lots.)
- Moody Bible Institute (That big plaza is pretty cool in the middle of busy Chicago.)
- North Park University (It’s quite Swedish, you know.)
- Judson College University (Campus flood, plus a name-change. With fireworks.)
- University of Illinois at Chicago (Hangin’ out in the Inner Circle…)
- Loyola University (That Ignatius of Loyola, he liked to learn stuff.)
- DePaul University (I eavesdropped on one group’s Bible study ’cause I was late.)
- Robert Morris College (Cool giant mural.)
- University of Chicago (Some parts are kinda old and creaky, but in a cool way.)
- Northwestern University (They tape their fliers to the ground! And they sell crepes at the food court!)
- College of DuPage (Lived right across from it for six weeks. Even walked a dog over there.)
The trip to Atlanta & back up to Boston
- Purdue University (Stalked a Christian magician.)
- Western Kentucky (I understand why they’re the Hilltoppers now.)
- Furman University (Home of the bald Paladin.)
- Bob Jones University (Watched Literary Societies play soccer, with their own cheerleaders.)
- Appalachian State (Two huge hills. And lots of milkshake choices at Cook Out.)
- Virginia Tech (Ravi Zacharias.)
- University of Scranton (Slept in a Vistor’s spot.)
- Lackawanna College (They didn’t lack the wanna to be nice in the bookstore.)
Boston & more New England
- Boston University (Home of the Terriers and the Passion Regional.)
- Harvard University (How many schools have archeology digs on campus?)
- MIT (Home of the crazy geometric buildings. It is, after all, MIT.)
- Cambridge College (I attended Sunday school in a classroom!)
- Boston College (Man, it’s a ways out there on the Green Line.)
- Northeastern University (Homecoming King & Queen Karaoke. That’s all I need to say.)
- University of Massachusetts (There’s some disturbing places on this campus!)
- Gordon College (Timothy George in Chapel.)
- Central Connecticut State University (Most disturbing mascot. Ever.)
- Tufts University (That’s right, they’re the Jumbos! Actually named after the Barnum & Bailey elephant!)
- Brown University (Sex. Power. God.)
- Connecticut College (Really nice security guard, for one thing.)
Headed down to Florida
- NYU (Is that your school or a skyscraper? Yes.)
- Princeton University (Just visiting my cousin getting his Plasma Physics PhD., that’s all.)
- University of Maryland (Probably the coolest center-of-campus I’ve seen.)
- University of Richmond (They’re the Spiders, and this campus is in the stinkin’ woods.)
Southern Blitz
- University of Florida (Toured the campus on the back of a Vespa driven by a scholarship athlete. Huh.)
- Samford University / Beeson Divinity School (One of the prettiest campuses ever. Good cafeteria, too.)
- University of Alabama at Birmingham (They’re the Blazers, and a Blazer is a dragon.)
- University of Alabama (Fight at the food court! -don’t worry, it was employees, not students.)
- LSU (The under-construction BCM will be great! And… there’s a real tiger on campus.)
- [New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary (An amazing lunch with a college ministry prof and his students – how could I forget?)]
- Tulane University (Waterfalls from the ceiling of the student center? Wowzers.)
- Southern Miss (Jumbo-tron in the Student Center, eh?)
- William Carey University (All the street names have to do with Carey’s life. When I die, what would I want on my street names?)
- Mississippi College (They have some moolah, say their sweet buildings.)
- Belhaven College (They, too, are the Blazers. Only this time a Blazer is a blazing guy. Or a sword. Or an orb. The bookstore gal and I couldn’t sort it out.)
- Millsaps College (The SMU of Mississippi, but WITH a climbable tower.)
- Louisiana Tech (At midnight, the golden bulldog comes alive. Not really. But oh how I wish it was true.)
- [The University of Louisiana Monroe, Monroe, LA (The campus was deserted, except for a huge Christmas tree. Good enough.)]
Conference in NM
- University of New Mexico (In Albu-qwirky, and it certainly is.)
Winter Break in Dallas
- SMU (A great library for a few sources for the ol’ thesis.)
- Dallas Theological Seminary (I left my Red X by the Jesus statue. But it was rescued!)
- Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary (My soon-to-be alma mater…)
California – from bottom to top
- #54: University of California San Diego (La Jolla) (Lotsa construction, but it was good to be in San Diego for Semester Two!)
- #55: San Diego Christian College (El Cajon) (Dorms… right at a church. Huh.)
- #56: Point Loma Nazarene University (San Diego) (Mascot? Sea Lions. Picture of mascot? Regular lion. Confusing!)
- #57: San Diego State University (San Diego) (Long, pretty “campus walk” down the middle.)
- #58: California State University San Marcos (Constructed all up-n-down a hill.)
- #59: California State University Long Beach (The Beach! Or the Dirtbags! And the official mascot, too! Lotsa nicknames!)
- #60: The Master’s Seminary (Sun Valley) (At Grace Community Church, so I got two explorations in one. Sweet.)
- #61: The Master’s College (Santa Clarita) (John MacArthur in chapel, so I got the full view.)
- #62: UCLA – University of California Los Angeles (I had to sprint across the campus, and it’s a big campus… Winded!)
- #63: Azusa Pacific University (Azusa) (Hundreds and hundreds in night-chapel, plus ashed on my forehead.)
- #64: Loyola Marymount University (Los Angeles) (Overlooking the smoggy, pretty city.)
- #65: University of Southern California (Los Angeles) (Get lost, pull out the laptop, keep searching, pull out the laptop…)
- #66: Pepperdine University (Malibu) (Man, that’s quite the hill. A big, steep, awesome-view hill.)
- #67: University of California Irvine (Go Anteaters! Zot!)
- #68: University of La Verne (La Verne) (Home of Ben Hines Field!)
- #69: California Baptist University (Riverside) (Golf cart tour! And Woman Chapel!)
- #70: Westmont College (Montecito) (All kinds of big plants. A plant wonderland.)
- #71: University of California Santa Barbara (Watch out for bikes! Bikes have the right!)
- #72: Cal Poly – California Polytechnic State University (San Luis Obispo) (Campus Crusade with the Ag College – go Aggies!)
- #73: University of California Santa Cruz (oh, I’m just hangin’ with a banana slug)
- #74: San Jose State University (An emerging-ish church service, right there on campus. We are Spartans.)
- #75: Stanford University (Stanford) (I got sushi boxes, got REAL lost one late night, and ate in the Faculty Club twice. All in a week’s work.)
- #76: Graduate Theological Union (Berkeley) (What a library! That’s what happens when schools combine!)
- #77: University of California (Berkeley) (Tree-sitter? Check!)
- #78: Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary (Mill Valley) (There’s not really a gate on campus. But I did eat a pumpkin-lamb enchilada with a prof!)
- #79: Santa Clara University (Santa Clara) (Look at that big burrito! Eat it up!)
- #80: Simpson University (Redding) (What’s that big rock on campus?)
The Northwest
- #81: University of Oregon (Eugene, OR) (I am a Duck.)
- #82: Northwest Christian College (Eugene, OR) (A little-bitty corner cut outta U of O. Cute!)
- #83: Reed College (Portland, OR) (Ah, that zany Reed College.)
- #84: Portland State University (Portland, OR) (What are Park Blocks? Oh, blocks of park-ness, right down the middle o’ campus. Gotcha.)
- #85: George Fox University (Newberg, OR) (Tents all over.)
- #86: University of Washington (Seattle, WA) (Not only a great campus, but a great district called the U. What a place. Just don’t try to park.)
- #87: University of Idaho (Moscow, ID) (Maybe the biggest student center yet. And the Vandals refers to the people-group. Really.)
- #88: Washington State University (Pullman, WA) (Ah, the Sweet 16. Go Cougs.)
- #89: Gonzaga University (Spokane, WA) (Biggest snowflakes ever.)
- #90: Seattle Pacific University (Seattle, WA) (What a spread – killer cafeteria, SPU.)
- #91: Multnomah Bible College (Portland, OR) (Log cabin or student center? Yep.)
The TRECC from Portland to North Carolina
- #92: University of Montana, Missoula, MT (Give me a student center, spacious and wooden and plant-filled, with a glass elevator running up the middle and metal statues hiding in the forest… was this a dream?)
- #93: Montana Tech, Butte, MT (Orediggers!)
- #94: Montana State University, Bozeman, MT (And suddenly, Montana gets flat, along with its campuses.)
- #95: North Dakota State University, Fargo, ND (Quite the snowman for April!)
- #96: Minnesota State University Moorhead, Moorhead, MN (O metal dragon around the lightpost, how can I find the bookstore before freezing?)
- #97: Bethel University, Minneapolis, MN (I feel like I walked across this campus inside in a long glass hallway? Is that right?)
- #98: Notre Dame University, South Bend, IN (They know they’re a tourist attraction, and they should be.)
- #99: Grove City College, Grove City, PA (Nostalgia, since last applying and visiting in ’98…)
- #100: Slippery Rock University, Slippery Rock, PA (You are 100. Gotta love the Rock.)
Written from Dan’s house, Durham, NC
Benson – Great to hear that you are alive and well. Only you could pull off something like this…endurance! I would love to catch up with you soon.
Great to meet you, Ben, at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. I look forward to keeping up with the rest of the trek, and, Lord willing, to possibly see you in Denver late summer.
God bless you,
Matt