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 University
of Akron
Akron, Ohio
The Rock at UA is a 70-ton boulder brought to the Ohio campus as
a gift from the Class of 1880. It sits in the center of campus.
At first, the Rock simply bore the number “1880” etched
in one side. But it wasn’t long before pranksters began sneaking
up at night to adorn the Rock with bright paint. The tradition continues
today, with students painting the Rock to show school spirit or
welcome pledges to fraternities and sororities.
Kent State
Kent, Ohio
 Painting
the campus rock has been a Kent State tradition for more than 50
years—one fraternity, Kappa Mu Kappa, used to hold May Day
ceremonies at the rock. The rock was moved to its current location
in 1972. Kent State legend has it that the rock is really tiny and
has grown to its cu rrent size because of the hundreds of layers
of paint applied by fraternities, sororities, campus groups, and
even local citizens through the years. However, several years ago
a faculty member cored the boulder as part of an experiment and
discovered that the layers of paint were only about an inch thick,
and the first colors applied were blue and gold—Kent State’s
school colors.
 Northwestern
University
Evanston, Ill.
Brought to campus by members of the class of 1902 and initially
installed as a drinking fountain, the Rock at Northwestern is a
6-foot-high quartzite bou lder from Wisconsin. Fraternities and
sororities began whitewashing the monument in the 1940s, and by
the 1950s, painting the Rock was an accepted tradition—and
the drinking fountain long gone. In the 1960s, it became a rallying
point for student protests as well as paint brushes. Northwestern
Magazine reported that the Rock was cracked in 1989 when it
was moved to keep students from tracking wet paint into nearby buildings—embarrassing
the administration and angering the students. With help from the
materials science and engineering departments at Northwestern, the
Rock was mortared back together and still stands as a “mystical
sort of abstract presence on campus,” according to Patrick
M. Quinn, University archivist.
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