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 Hamline
University
St. Paul, Minn.
Proposal Rock was moved to Hamline from a nearby pond when urban
development overtook the pond. Its name comes from the many marriage
proposals made near it through the years. Every 25 years since 1886,
the graduating class of the College of Liberal Arts has been allowed
to chisel their class year into Proposal Rock.
 University
of Florida
Gainesville, Fla.
GPA Rock is a 30 million-year-old, 10-ton chert rock, erected in
the spring of 1984 after nine years of preparation. A UF professor
spotted the stone at aquarry in Brooksville, and was reminded of
a modern piece of sculpture. Donated to the UF geology department
by the Crushed Stone Corp. of Brooksville, the rock was transported
to South Carolina to have the base sawed off and a hole drilled
for a pipe. It was also sandblasted and had several coats of plastic
applied before it was lowered by crane onto its pedestal in front
of General Purpose (Building) A. Although the building was later
renamed Turlington Hall, GPA Rock remains a stalwart UF campus landmark.
 Macalester
College
St. Paul, Minn.
The 700-pound Rock was rolled to Macalester in 1908, and was moved
by students to various campus locations several times over the years.
In the 1960s, students from Carleton College in nearby Northfield
stole the rock and then mailed it back—C.O.D. It was cemented
into its present location in front of Old Main in 1965, and since
then, has been a touchstone for students and a focal point for spray-painted
messages of all types—philosophical, anti-war, anti-administration,
and dorm-warfare propaganda.
The College of Wooster
Wooster, Ohio
Wooster’s Rock was a gift from the Class of 1874. They moved
it several blocks up a hill
from the back yard of a professor’s home to a campus site at
the corner of University and College streets. It has a less colorful
history than its counterparts across the country, apparently never
having been painted or defaced in any way since “1874”
was carved on its face.
Reprinted (after being edited for this magazine) with permission
from The Rock, the magazine of Whittier College. This article
was compiled by Judy Kidder Browning.
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