Sorin Oak
The Sorin Oak tree is the biggest oak tree in Austin, named after Edward Sorin, the founder of Notre Dame and St. Edward’s University. It has been said that Edward Sorin stood under the tree and stated he would start St. Edward’s Academy. The tree is about 250-300 years old standing at 43 feet tall. It has survived a mysterious fire that destroyed St. Edward’s Main Building in 1903 as well as a tornado that struck campus in 1922. Through the years, this massive tree has been one of the biggest attractions on our campus. It forms part of the rooting of the St. Edward’s ring, where students touch the tree with the ring to leave their roots with the tree.
Teresa
Teresa Hall is one of the two legacy halls on campus, the other being East Hall. In 1966, when Maryhill College was established as a female-only school alongside the male-only school of St. Edward’s University, the women needed a place to live. East Hall was built that same year and then two years later came Teresa Hall to house all the women, until the university became co-educational in 1970. Among other residence halls at the time were Fleck, Doyle, Premont and Andre Halls. Over time, those buildings became academic spaces instead of residences, housing classrooms and offices. The on-campus apartments, Maryhill Apartments and Hilltopper Heights, were built in 1996 and 1999 respectively. Newer residence halls added since then have been Basil Moreau, Dujarié, Casa, Hunt, Le Mans and Johnson Halls. The newest dorm, The Pavilions, has been strife with controversy. First with a delay in opening, moving hundreds of students that had paid to live in the Pavilions into either the on-campus apartments or into hotels. The following year, once it was open, pipes leaked and caused a massive flood that once again moved residents out into other housing options, such as East Hall and UT apartments. Despite this, The Pavilions is not going away anytime soon. Teresa and East Hall, however, will be. The two legacy halls are proposed to be torn down to make way for a turf field and a single residence hall, according to the 2018 Master Plan, which is part of a larger Strategic Plan 2022. East Hall was actually closed down in the Fall of 2018 to make way for this transition, but had to be reopened for the Pavilion residents in need of a place to live. Both East and Teresa are rife with history, a lot which has been passed down on tours and Topper Tales (ghost stories told during Freshman Orientation). The on-campus apartments will also be torn down to make way for new housing, but the move on that is not yet known. As St. Edward’s continues to grow and expand its campus, it needs to bring its dorms up to modern standards. Although many of us enjoyed the cheaper dorms of Teresa and East, as well as the joys of living in on-campus apartments, we must part ways and usher in a new dorm life for future students to come.
BMH
Before the dorms were constructed, the land where BMH currently stands was utilized as a practice field in the early 90s by the Dallas Cowboys. During their Super Bowl runs, America’s team spent the summers here. In agreement with the university, the team gave the university $100,000 for Parks and Recreation pool funds along with $91,000 for labor, maintenance, and materials to build practice fields. In return, along with access to the field, the Cowboys had year-round access to campus facilities. In 1997, the team’s reputation was at a low so owner Jerry Jones installed security cameras in the dorms before training camp started. During the final two weeks of camp, the players trashed a dorm and ripped out the cameras. The president of the university’s student affairs stated that as a cause of housing the team, there was more damage than the usual college-student damage. He described how there was water soaked into the carpet and a stench of urine at a hall (Weber, 2018). The agreement between the NFL team and the 1997 and dorm rooms were built in 2003. Basil Moreau Hall currently houses 180 students including freshman and upperclassmen (St. Edward’s University) while being conveniently next to Ragsdale Center. Named after Blessed Basil Moreau, the founder of the Congregation of the Holy Cross, Basil Moreau Hall was built in 2003 and designed by Hanbury Design.In the original plan, the university wanted the building to integrate “programmatic needs” (Hanbury, 2016) to achieve student success. In addition, two additional residence halls were built inspired by BMH, known as the Casitas and Jacques Dujarié Hall.
Andre Hall
ce a dormitory and then academic offices, Andre Hall represents a change to the landscape of St. Edward’s. Andre Hall was a dormitory in 1958, back when St. Edward’s was still an all-male campus. The building was dedicated by clergy members of the Congregation of Holy Cross and named after Brother André Bessette, later canonized as Saint André of Montreal. It wasn’t until the 1970s that it no longer served as a dorm, and until 2018 held the offices for the School of Humanities. For years the building was having problems, such as leaking, flooding, strange smells, and asbestos in the carpet. Many professors and students were unhappy with the state of the building. Finally, the School of Humanities was moved to Holy Cross Hall, another building that has been renovated and stood the test of time, and Andre was put out of use. In the 2018 Master Plan, Andre is set to be demolished and in its place there will be a new academic building. This building is meant to replace both Andre and Moody Hall, the latter of which is being demolished under the plan as well. Much like the legacy dorms of East and Teresa, Andre Hall will no longer serve as a memory of St. Edward’s beginnings as an all-male campus. As the building goes through the process of being demolished, the Historic Landmark Commission is reviewing it to determine whether the architecture of Andre Hall is important enough to history to prevent it from being destroyed. We may not know when Andre will officially be destroyed, if it’s not deemed historically significant, but expect the building to be gone soon. While the unfavorable conditions of the building will not be missed, its history certainly will be.
Library
The Scarborough-Phillips Library was renovated and renamed the Munday Library in 2013 thanks to a generous donation by Pat and Bill Munday of 50 million dollars. Out of the 50 million 13 million were used to construct the library filled with many resources such as new computers, study rooms, free printing, thousands of books, magazines, films, and experts who will help you with advanced research. The Munday library provides a writing center where everybody can schedule an appointment for a 30 minute one on one session with a highly qualified professor.
Our Lady Queen of Peace chapel
Our Lady Queen of Peace Chapel was originally built in 1897 and has served as more than a chapel. It has been used as a “theater, woodworking and blacksmith shop, bowling alley and a shooting range” (Texas Architects). Then in 1947, it was designated to be a chapel. In 2012, the master plan included the chapel to be renovated. On October 21, 2014, Our Lady Queen of Peace Chapel was opened and blessed. Not only did they renovate the chapel, but they also created a new place for Campus Ministry and added a meditation garden. Not only is it a place where people can worship, but events are held and people now utilize it to study. Some of the elements in the chapel like the “altar, tabernacle, crucifix, baptismal font, ambry and lectern were all crafted from trees that were damaged from a previous storm” (St. Edward’s University). The Meditation Garden is environmentally friendly. It has a water system where it “collects rainwater which then pours into a seam and hydrates a surrounding bed” (St. Edward’s University). Our Lady Queen of Peace chapel has also opened its doors to those that come to worship even if they do not practice Catholicism. Other religions such as Islam, use the community room next to the chapel as a place to worship. The chapel has served many roles, but throughout its time, it has always been a place to bring communities together.
The seal
The university is part of the Congregation of Holy Cross was founded by Basil Moreau on March 1st, 1837. Moreau set the Congregation to “serve with zeal” (Congregation of Holy Cross, 2019). The mission includes to serve “side-by-side with our collaborators through educating young hearts and minds and building communities.” (Congregation of Holy Cross, 2019). The mission is represented in the seal we see that we are not allowed to step on. While it is unclear when the seal was built, there are blueprints of it in the Ragsdale Plaza, Seal Drawings from 1998 (University Archives). Since then, the seal is associated with the superstition (which we do not know if it is true or not) that if one walks on it, you will not graduate. While there is no evidence that proves it to be true, there is a plaque that “politely” (Hilltop Views, 2012) asks not to walk to walk on it. Today, if one is seen even put a foot on the seal, there is a great amount of staring and judgment that comes towards you.
Main Building/Red Doors
The last stop of our tour is where it all started. The first main building was erected in 1888. In 1903 there was a fire that caused devastation to the building and it was re-built. It was re-built by Nicholas J. Clayton and he went with the Gothic Revival Style. In 1873 St. Edward’s was a male catholic schools that taught the local farm boys. It wasn’t until 1921 that college-level courses were added. In 1925, St. Edward’s finally became a university. Interestingly enough, St. Edward’s was an academy and flying school during WWII. Main building has been renovated several times, and one of those we were all here to witness. Classes are still held here, but it is mainly the place for administration offices. Now onto the red doors. The red doors are probably what people picture when they hear St. Edward’s. There are traditions that go with the red doors such as walking through them as a freshman and walking out of them as a senior. Along with the building, the red doors have had to be re-done due to damage. In the most recent fire, the doors weren’t completely damaged and weren’t replaced. If you look closely you can see evidence of the fire.
