Franklin and Marshall College

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Tours

  1. Campus Tour

    Take a virtual tour of our campus.

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    1. Lombardo Welcome Center

      The Samuel N. and Dena M. Lombardo Welcome Center is F&M’s welcoming front door to prospective students, families, alumni, and friends visiting our campus. The Lombardo Welcome Center was made possible thanks to a $5 million gift to F&M's Now to Next capital campaign from Lancaster-area residents, business owners and philanthropists Sam and Dena Lombardo. For prospective students, the Lombardo Welcome Center is your host location for College tours. For alumni, it is your first stop before you begin your walk down memory lane.

    2. Life Sciences & Philosophy Building

      The Ann and Richard Barshinger Life Sciences and Philosophy Building (LSP) provides students access to state-of-the-art resources for studying the development of morality, animal welfare and problem-solving, social belonging, drug addiction, infant learning, non-verbal communication, healthy behaviors, responses to trauma, human rights, and more. LSP is home to F&M's psychology, biology, and philosophy departments, plus several cross-departmental programs, including animal behavior studies, neuroscience, moral psychology, and cognitive science. In addition to classrooms and labs, LSP also has a philosophy garden, a vivarium, aquatics and plant-growth suites, a greenhouse, and the Development and Experience (DAX) Center, two innovative child-development research labs that allow faculty and students to study moral development.

    3. Residential Quad

      The residential quad is a sloping, tree-lined green that rolls south to north, from Brooks College House to Weis College House. Flanking the quad are Bonchek and Ware College Houses to the east and Schnader and Thomas residence halls to the west. Just north of Weis College House is Roschel College House.

       

      The College House community is distinctively F&M. Our three first year houses are student-governed spaces where you can socialize, learn, and stretch your intellect. The communities within the houses are tight-knit, and many students forge lifelong friendships here. Based in each house are a faculty mentor, called a don, and a live-in residence director, to guide you.

       

    4. Restaurants at Ben Franklin

      F&M’s primary dining facility, the Restaurants at Ben Franklin (referred to as D-Hall by students) is conveniently located in the residential quad on campus. The entire dining hall is a nut-free facility and is home to several delicious food stations, including Restaurante Verde (featuring pizza made with made-from-scratch hand-tossed pizza dough and made-to-order pasta dishes), Kite and Key (the grill and deli station), Sustenance (where you can find items like fried chicken, mashed potatoes and gravy, macaroni and cheese, chicken pot pie and more) and KIVO (which stands for Kosher, International, Vegan and Organic).

    5. Weis College House

      Weis College House was dedicated at Franklin and Marshall College in 2011 and was made possible by the vision and deep generosity of Robert and Patricia Weis and the Weis family. The House motto is socii mundi, translated as "compatriots with an interest in the world." It is a call to join together in the College House community to pursue knowledge and truth.


      College Houses are much more than residence halls—they are student-run communities. Each house creates its own rules of conduct, drafts a constitution and elects its leaders. Each house has its own budget, which it can spend as it sees fit. House residents choose furnishings and decorations, hold dinners, plan special projects, start clubs—of which we have more than 125—host guest speakers and engage in intellectual debates that spill over from the classroom. Each house is a true supportive community.

    6. Weis College House Bedroom

      This is an example of the types of double-occupancy rooms that are available in Weis and the other four College Houses.

    7. Hartman Green

      In warm weather, the grassy expanse of Hartman Green draws students outdoors in droves and serves as the site for the majority of major campus events, such as student activity fairs, outdoor concerts and Commencement for the senior class.


      Impromptu games of football, Frisbee and soccer break out regularly on the green. During warm spring days and crisp fall afternoons, you'll find dozens of students spread out on blankets or sitting in clusters of Adirondack chairs, studying, socializing, or snoozing.


      Squaring off the green are Steinman College Center; Dietz Hall, a residence reserved for students who prefer quiet living; Schnader and Thomas residence halls; Hackman Physical Sciences Building, home to F&M's earth sciences, geology, physics and astronomy departments; and the Patricia E. Harris Center for Business, Government & Public Policy.



    8. Harwood Commons

      Harwood Commons houses F&M’s Center for Career and Professional Development. The Career Center cultivates professional development experiences that empower students and alumni to design and navigate fulfilling careers with courage and curiosity. The Career Center delivers career, leadership, and professional development offerings — including specialized career advising, major exploration, internship support, financial literacy, and more — to support the many success trajectories available to students during and beyond their four years on campus.

    9. Diplomatic Café

      The Diplomatic Café is a fan favorite on campus for hot and cold beverages, fresh sandwiches, and other fast-casual eats. The Diplomatic Café is a proud server of Square One Roasters, a local coffee supplier committed to responsibly farmed, sustainably sourced coffee. The café is on the ground floor of our campus bookstore and features a patio dining space.

    10. Steinman College Center

      In the bustling Steinman College Center, you will find students studying or relaxing in the atrium or grabbing lunch at one of three restaurants. Handcrafted serves made-to-order subs, soups, and salads; the Grill Off the Green features a variety of traditional grill options such as breakfast sandwiches, chicken fingers, burgers, quesadillas, and grilled sandwiches; and Mein Bowl offers build-your-own Asian cuisine. Steinman College Center is also home to the Phillips Museum of Art; the student-run radio station, WFNM; the Alice Drum Women’s Center; the Office of Faith and Meaning; and the Office of Student Engagement. Steinman College Center was designed by Minoru Yamasaki, a Japanese-American architect, best known for designing the original World Trade Center in New York City.

    11. Phillips Museum of Art

      The Phillips Museum of Art fosters an understanding and appreciation of the fine arts in the Franklin & Marshall community and beyond. The Phillips Museum opened in 2000 and was made possible by a generous gift from Thomas G. Phillips III, F&M Class of ’54 and his wife, Virginia. The Phillips Museum is home to an extensive and expansive permanent collection, and presents exhibitions by well-known regional, national, and international artists. The Phillips Museum staff partners with multiple fields of study to create opportunities for students to learn about art history, curating and exhibiting works of art, and the role art plays in shaping world cultures. In addition to visiting through their coursework, students are encouraged to use the Phillips Museum to engage in intellectual inquiry and develop professional skills. 

    12. Patricia E. Harris Center for Business, Government & Public Policy

      The Patricia E. Harris Center for Business, Government & Public Policy is named for F&M alumna Patti Harris ’77, who was formerly the first deputy mayor of New York City. The Harris Center houses three of our most popular majors, government, public policy, and business, organizations and society; the Student Support Hub, F&M’s center for tutoring and academic support services; F&M’s Center for Opinion Research, which conducts political polling that is cited nationally; and F&M Global Barometers, which researches and provides a global measure of LGBTQI+ human rights in 204 countries and regions.

    13. Student Support Hub

      A constellation of tutoring and academic support services are available to you at F&M, many of which are located in one central location on campus: the Student Support Hub, located on the ground floor of the Harris Center. Here you’ll find academic coaching, writing support, peer advising, subject-specific tutoring, and much more. You can partner with professionals and student peers to develop skills as a purpose-driven learner and build habits for academic success and long-term personal development.

    14. Ann & Richard Barshinger Center For Musical Arts

      The Ann & Richard Barshinger Center provides a world-class concert hall to serve as the centerpiece of F&M’s thriving music program. Adjoining the Barshinger Center is Meyran Hall, a building that serves as home for the Music Department. Our concert hall features an expanded stage designed to handle a full 70-piece orchestra or a full chorus with up to 135 performers. Seating accommodates just over 500, all with a first-rate view of the stage. The elegant setting was designed by a team that led the centennial renovations of Boston’s Symphony Hall, and the acoustics were designed by one of the world’s leading sound specialists, creating an acoustically vibrant atmosphere.

    15. Stager Hall

      Stager Hall is a centrally located fixture on campus, centralizing many of the humanities departments of the F&M curriculum. Known for its premier science laboratories in the 1890s, Stager is now home to eight academic programs: American studies, computer science, economics, history, Judaic studies, mathematics, religious studies, and women's, gender & sexuality studies.

    16. Keiper Liberal Arts

      Constructed in Georgian colonial style and red brick, this ornate, three-story building has housed classrooms and department offices since its dedication in 1937. Several departments call this building home, including English, comparative literary studies, linguistics, and five of F&M’s 10 language departments: French, German, Italian, Russian, and Spanish. On the ground floor of Keiper, facing College Avenue, you will find the Green Room Theatre, an intimate stage for our aspiring actors. F&M alumni who have performed on the Green Room stage include the late Roy Scheider and Treat Williams.

    17. Shadek-Fackenthal Library

      F&M’s College Library is housed in two locations: the Shadek-Fackenthal Library and the Martin Library of the Sciences. The Shadek-Fackenthal Library (or Shad, as our students call it) houses print collections in the humanities, social sciences and fine arts, and includes our media collections, the Info Desk, the circulation desk, a clean makerspace called the SparkLab, the SparkSpace classroom, the Library Classroom, the Academy Room, the Faculty Center, and the Office of Sponsored Research. You’ll find quiet study areas and group study rooms on all five levels of Shad. There are reference librarians available at the "Ask Me" help desk, and they encourage you to call them or email them whenever you need a helping hand. During Finals Week, the library is open until 2 a.m., and serves free coffee and hot chocolate to help keep your motor running. The library also brings therapy dogs to campus during Finals Week to help students unwind with some friendly canines.

    18. Susan and Benjamin Winter Visual Arts Center

      The Susan and Benjamin Winter Visual Arts Center (WVAC) was designed by the renowned architect Steven Holl and opened in August of 2020. It provides a magnificent environment for the making and study of visual arts, including painting, drawing, sculpture, woodworking, architecture, photography, digital graphics and film. The WVAC is the home of studio art, history of art and architecture, and film and media arts, as well as several art studios, a digital lab, a cinema, an art gallery managed by the Phillips Museum of Art, and more. This building is unlike any other on campus and earned The Architect’s Newspaper 2020 Best of Design Award in the institutional / higher education category.

    19. Old Main

      Dedicated in 1856, historic Old Main housed classrooms for many years, later serving as a residence hall. Today, Old Main is home to nondenominational Nevin Chapel, which hosts a variety of services and doubles as a recital hall for intimate musical concerts. Old Main also houses the offices of Franklin & Marshall's leading administrators, including the president, provost, and dean. Old Main also houses the offices of communications and institutional research.

    20. Martin Library of the Sciences

      F&M’s College Library is housed in two locations: the Shadek-Fackenthal Library and the Martin Library of the Sciences. Martin Library of the Sciences (MLS) was built in 1990 and renovated in 2015. MLS contains over 60,000 volumes in the sciences, a collection of topographic maps, and F&M’s Archives & Special Collections. In our Archives & Special Collections, we now offer improved ways to discover online archival materials, College Scholarship, Rare Books and digitized collections. MLS is also home to our Technology Lending Center (TLC) and Information Technology Services (ITS). The TLC is your destination when you need gear for your special projects; cameras, tripods, iPads, laptops, Chromebooks, webcams, voice recorders, projectors, and video cameras can all be rented out here. The patio of the building features solar-powered docking stations for laptops and other electronic devices while students soak up the sun, study, or socialize. 

    21. Mayser Gymnasium

      Mayser Gymnasium is the hub of Franklin & Marshall athletics. It is home to the department's administrative offices, as well as basketball, squash, volleyball, and wrestling. The playing surface of Mayser Gymnasium's 3,200-seat basketball court is so true and well maintained that the NBA's Philadelphia 76ers trained on it for several years. Our men's and women's basketball teams practice and play on Glenn Robinson Court, named after former men's head coach Glenn Robinson, who holds the national record for the most wins of any coach in Division II or III basketball. The lower level of the Mayser Center hosts the W. Roy Phillips ’34 Wrestling Room, a 3,730-square-foot training facility for the Diplomats’ only Division I athletics team, and the squash team’s competition area, which features five ASB international squash courts. In addition to competing here, our squash players also use this space to perform community service. Through a program called Squash Aces, our players serve as academic tutors for local middle school students and teach them the fundamentals of the game of squash, a well-rounded blend of mental and physical activity.

    22. Roschel Performing Arts Center

      If you like to act, perform, or dance, the Roschel Performing Arts Center could become your second home. The Roschel Performing Arts Center is the main-stage theatre on campus. It’s home to the Schnader Theatre, two spacious dance studios, a drama studio, a box office, dressing rooms, a costume shop, and a scenery shop. Schnader Theatre has seating for 305 while maintaining an intimate feel. With state-of-the-art technology, a pit that can fit a small orchestra, and a thrust stage that’s larger than two-thirds of most Broadway stages, the Schnader Theatre is the perfect location for both professional and college productions.

    23. Arts Quad

      The Arts Quad is the gateway to our first-rate fine-arts facilities and also home to our collection of large-scale sculptures. Bordering the quad are the Barshinger Center for Musical Arts, Roschel Center for the Performing Arts, and the Phillips Museum of Art, housed on the ground floor of our student center, Steinman College Center.

    24. Alumni Sports & Fitness Center

      The Alumni Sports & Fitness Center — or the “ASFC,” as our students refer to it — is F&M's multipurpose athletic and recreation facility. It features an Olympic-sized swimming pool, five full-sized multipurpose courts, a weight room with cardiovascular equipment, and 200-meter tracks on the lower and upper levels. F&M’s indoor track & field, swimming, and tennis teams compete at the ASFC. The ASFC also hosts many College events, including New Student Convocation and Commencement.