The University of Massachusetts Dartmouth is a multi-college university, part of the state wide university system of the University of Massachusetts, located in Dartmouth, Massachusetts. The University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth, also known as UMass Dartmouth, has nearly 7,000 students, more than 2,500 of whom live on campus. It offers more than 61 undergraduate programs of study and 19 graduate programs, and has more than 300 full-time faculty.
The Dartmouth campus traces its roots to 1895. In that year the Massachusetts legislature chartered the New Bedford Textile School and the Bradford Durfee Textile School in Fall River. These were combined in 1962 to create the Southeastern Massachusetts Technological Institute, expanding to become Southeastern Massachusetts University by 1969. SMU was merged into the UMass system and adopted its present name in 1991.
UMass Dartmouth specializes in training engineers, health care workers and teachers. The school also expects to host the University of Massachusetts School of Law, as the trustees of the state's university system voted during 2004 to purchase the nearby Southern New England School of Law , an unaccredited private institution.
Architecture
The architecture of the campus was designed by Paul Rudolph to appear cut off from the outside world yet still be a social environment. Rudolph made both the inside and outside of the buildings on campus out of concrete and made the windows large in order to give people the feeling of being outdoors while indoors. The stairs were made small in order to slow people down, thus allowing them to take the time to appreciate the campus. Atriums were put in the Group 1 building to give people a place to socialize between sections of the halls. The main doors of each building faces towards the campanile to keep students within the Acedemic Life area (where buildings for classes are located). Large mounds are also put in between the parking lots, thus making the lots invisible from within the Acedemic Life area.
Many rumors have spread about Rudolph and his design. One of the most common ones is that Rudolf was a Satanist, and that he shaped the benches on campus as sixes in sets of three (thus forming 666, the number of the beast) and put the buildings in the shaped of a six. The stairs are also said to be in three groups of six, each stair being six inches high. Some claims also say that there are 666 stairs in the campanile. However, none of these claims have led to any proof of Rudolf being involved in Satanism, as nothing in his biography suggests the possibility (and in fact, many of the supposed hexagonal forms are octagons).
Another rumor about the architect claims that Rudolph killed himself by jumping from the top of the campanile shortly once the Dartmouth campus opened. This too is false; Rudolph died of cancer from asbestos exposure in 1997.
My rumors exist that are specifically about the architecture. Some believe the flat roofs of the buildings were meant to be used to park flying cars in the future; the stairs that lead to the roofs are also seen as evidence. In truth, Rudolph designed the roofs after that of Sarsota High School in Florida, which were meant to handle rain well but not snow (which is common to Massachusetts weather). The stairs are more likely used to help clear the snow on the roof.
Some students also believe that the architecture is designed after the mental institution from the film version of A Clockwork Orange. While they similarities are very noticable, it is most likely that Rudolph's use of the Brutalism style, which the film also used, caused a mere coincidence. Still, this rumor is not yet proven to be true or false.
Another rumor not yet varified for accuracy is that there is a system of underground tunnels between the buildings on campus. This rumor comes from the fact that a state educational television network was originally planned for the campus, and that the tunnels would be used for wiring. The funding for this network was never given to the university, but this does not prove that the tunnels were not built. Given that the original plans for the campus's design included these tunnels, their existence can not yet be proven or disproven.
Resources
- Graham, Kit & Keenan, Patrick (April 7, 2005). "Campus architecture myths debunked". The Torch. p. 1 & 4.
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