Follow along on our regular campus tour route, with 360 degree photos and videos, to learn about the academic and residential buildings and the special places on campus.
Collins House / Office of Admission
Collins House is home to the
Office of Admission. Prospective students and families check in here for information sessions and campus tours, as well as on-campus interviews. The Dennis and Mollie Collins Admission House is located adjacent to the Visitor Parking structure.
Remodeled in 1997 for use by the Office of Admission, the Myron Hunt-designed building was originally built in 1922 as the President's House. It was remodeled and refurbished in 1957 for use as the Faculty Club, and dedicated as the Dennis and Mollie Collins Admission House in 2002.
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Newcomb Hall
An upper division residence hall, Anna Clute Newcomb Hall consists of three floors which are gender inclusive. This fully air-conditioned building is made up of double and triple rooms.
Weingart Center for the Liberal Arts
Haines Hall
An upper division residence hall, Haines Hall accommodates 105 students in single, double and triple rooms. Haines is designated gender inclusive on all floors with communal gender inclusive restrooms.
President Barack Obama '83 lived in Haines Hall during his first year at Occidental.
Hameetman Career Center
Johnson Hall
Academic Quad
The heart of the 120-acre master-planned campus is the Quad, lined with the College's original Beaux Arts buildings and the mid-century Herrick Chapel. The benches under the oaks are a favorite place to talk, study, or go online (most of the campus is wireless). Quadsitting is one of Oxy's oldest and most frequently observed traditions: the combination of Southern California weather and Beatrix Farrand's landscaping has made it a natural hangout, particularly at lunch. The Quad is also a favorite hangout for Oxy's inquisitive squirrel population.
The Quad is at the heart of architect Myron Hunt's original 1911 campus master plan, located at the intersection of the north-south and east-west axes he laid out. The Quad was landscaped in 1937-1940 by Beatrix Farrand, whose other work includes the East Garden at the White House, Dumbarton Oaks in Washington D.C., and portions of the Caltech campus.
Norris Hall of Chemistry
The Kenneth T. Norris Hall is dedicated to the study of science at Occidental, housing chemistry laboratories, a lecture hall, the
Department of Chemistry, classrooms and other offices.
Hameetman Science Center
Completed in 2003, the Hameetman Science Center houses the
Physics and
Geology departments. The 41,000-square-foot, three-story structure houses 23 research and teaching labs (including plasma physics and fluid dynamics), 15 faculty offices, and three seminar rooms.
The lobby contains a Foucault pendulum that demonstrates the Earth's rotation.
Academic Commons
More than a library, the
Academic Commons provides academic enrichment and support for members of the Occidental community. The space houses information resources, library services, the Undergraduate Research Center, and academic support programs. The space houses hundreds of study cubbies and corners in addition to multiple student computer labs and creative spaces.
Herrick Memorial Chapel and Interfaith Center
The Margaret Brown Herrick Memorial Chapel and Interfaith Center is available to the entire student body and community members and serves people of many faiths through worship, prayer, fellowship, counseling, weddings, and presentations of religious art, music and drama. This building houses a 500-seat Chapel with the Mildred Miles Crew Memorial Organ, a three-manual Schlicker instrument; a large meeting room, smaller seminar and reading rooms, and office accommodations for the College's Director of
Religious and Spiritual Life.Lucille Y. Gilman Memorial Fountain
The Lucille Y. Gilman Memorial Fountain is located at the Alumni Drive entrance to campus. The late George Baker '58, who taught sculpture at Oxy from 1964-1997, designed the kinetic fountain Water Forms II, which he built with his students in 1979. Trekkies might recognize the fountain from the film Star Trek III: The Search for Spock, filmed at Occidental in 1983. The Gilman Fountain provided a backdrop for Spock's funeral on the planet Vulcan.
In 2021 the fountain was redesigned and restored for future generations to admire and enjoy!
Kemp Stadium / Patterson Field / Henry Track
The Stadium, field, and track are used for the athletics programs at Occidental College. Built in 1916 and modeled after the stadium at the University of Pennsylvania, Patterson Field is the oldest collegiate athletic stadium in the city of Los Angeles. The grandstands have a seating capacity of 2,600.
Swan Hall
Johnson Student Center and Freeman College Union
The Johnson Student Center and Freeman College Union is central to student life on campus, as it houses the Marketplace and Gresham Dining Hall, Green Bean Coffee Lounge, Rose Hills Foundation Student Activities Center,
Office of Student Life, Bookstore, Mailroom, Card Office and multiple meeting rooms.
The Marketplace
Located in the Johnson Student Center, the
Marketplace is the campus' primary dining facility with a variety of food stations and a rotating menu that has received national recognition. The adjacent Gresham Dining Hall offers students a place to enjoy their meal and catch up with classmates.
Bookstore
The
Occidental College Bookstore sells new and used textbooks, Oxy gear, and school supplies. The Bookstore is located on the ground floor of the Johnson Student Center and Freeman Union.
Thorne Hall
Thorne Hall is Occidental's main auditorium and is used for some Oxy traditions such as Convocation, Dance Production, and Apollo Night (Oxy's annual talent show), as well as community events like the Vagina Monologues. Over the past 80 years it has been host to such figures as Martin Luther King, Jr., Richard Nixon, singer Marian Anderson, authors Junot Diaz and Amy Tan, the artist Christo, and primatologist Jane Goodall.
Booth Music and Speech Center
Designed by Myron Hunt and built in 1929, Willis H. Booth Hall is home to the College's
Music and
Education department, showcasing practice rooms and the Helen and Remsen Bird Studio.
A two-level structure providing departmental offices, teaching studios and special facilities for music, including the Douglas Wright, Jr. Memorial Room for choral music, the Dorothy Buffum Chandler Instrumental Rehearsal and Music Classroom, along with the new
Choi Family Music Production Center.
Erdman Hall
Grace Carter Erdman Hall houses 70 upper division residents in single, double and triple rooms on two floors. Built in 1927, Erdman is one of the "period" halls due to its unique architecture. The first floor is single-gender and the second-floor single-gender by section. The fully air-conditioned hall has a large lounge area and TV room.
Collins House | End of Tour
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