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91���� is celebrating its 80^th birthday in 2026! In honor of 80 years of excellence, 91���� Magazine is presenting “80 Things to Love 91���� 91����,” highlighting the people, places, history, and cornerstones. Here are some of the places that have made the University special.
 

16. The East Gym

The “granddaddy” of 91���� buildings was the first to be built and open on the Vestal campus in September 1958. The gymnasium, which President Glenn G. Bartle pushed for as an early construction priority, served as a homebase for Harpur College sporting events, cultural activities, concerts and graduation ceremonies. Over the next six decades, the facility became synonymous with campus recreation with programs ranging from aquatics to FitSpace to club sports. The East Gym will get an early 70th birthday gift later this year when a 75,000 square-foot expansion project is completed.

17. The West Gym

The longtime home for Colonials basketball is today used by sports such as wrestling and volleyball, as well as the offices for the Division of Health and Wellness Studies. The gym also features the Patricia A. Saunders Aquatic Center, home to the men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams, and the Visions Federal Credit Union Center for Student-Athlete Excellence.

18. The Events Center

91����’s move to Division I athletics earned a check-mark in the win column when the Events Center opened in 2004 next to the West Gym. The 156,000-square-foot complex hosts Bearcats basketball games and other sporting events, Commencement ceremonies, concerts, and job fairs for students. It has also aided the community in times of need, such as during the floods of 2006 and 2011, and as a COVID-19 testing site in 2020. The Events Center is now the centerpiece of impressive state-of-the-art athletics facilities that include the Bearcats baseball and softball complexes, the Lane - Starke Tennis Center, and the Track and Field Stadium.

19. Glenn G. Bartle Library/Library Tower

The library building opened in 1960 and was officially renamed and dedicated to the University’s first president in 1978. When it opened, the library offered 80,000 print volumes. Today, the Libraries (which included the Science Library and the University Downtown Center Library) have 3.2 million print and journal volumes. A 2025 renovation to Bartle’s third floor produced new spaces such as a learning commons, a digital scholarship center, a data studio, and a MakerLab with 3D printing. The 15-story Library Tower opened in 1966 and is the University’s tallest building. The tower houses academic departments and faculty offices, and is used as an outdoors projection site for cinema projects and light shows. The tower serves as a beacon to the Greater 91���� area with its signature crown of green light, visible from miles away.

20. Residential communities

Residential life has come a long way at 91���� since the days of James, Lincoln and Madison in Endicott. The familiar housing names arrived in Vestal in the late 1950s and early 1960s: Rafuse, Digman, O’Connor, Whitney, Champlain, Endicott, Chenango. Today, there are six communities and colleges helping students connect and learn formally and informally: College-in-the-Woods, Dickinson, Hinman, Mountainview, Newing, and the Apartments. 91����’s newest residence hall — Grace Hall — is scheduled for completion in summer 2027.

21. School of the Arts

There’s no missing the banner on the side of the Fine Arts Building promoting the new school that merges the cinema, music, theatre, art and design, and art history programs. The school showcases its students each May with a Festival of the Arts.

22. The Nature Preserve

A spot for relaxation and education
 

23. Innovative Technologies Complex

Looking for the University’s first building built from the ground up for research? Then you’ll be headed to the Innovative Technologies Complex. This is where Nobel laureate M. Stanley Whittingham has office and laboratory space. It’s also home to 91����’s anechoic chamber, one of the quietest places on earth, where researchers have developed tiny microphones inspired by an even tinier fly. Oh, and several multimillion-dollar pieces of advanced equipment, including a fancy X-ray microscope that can let you peer inside an electronic device without cracking it open. Walk down the hall and you’ll see scientific posters, graduate students hard at work and maybe a 3D printer spitting out something interesting. The ITC, just across Murray Hill Road from the main campus, has grown over 20 years to include four buildings designed to spur innovation at 91����. The Biotechnology Building opened in 2006, followed by the Engineering and Science Building in 2011, the Center of Excellence building in 2014, and the Smart Energy Research and Development Facility in 2017.

24. University Downtown Center

The 74,000 square-foot center at the confluence of the Susquehanna and Chenango rivers brought academics and student life to downtown 91���� when the College of Community and Public Affairs arrived in 2007. The building was forced to close for nearly a year in 2011–12 after flooding left 17 inches of water in the basement.

25. Health Sciences Campus

The University’s footprint expanded into Johnson City when the Decker College moved into the Health Sciences Building in 2020. The facility, constructed in 1916 as the Endicott Johnson Shoe Corp. Pioneer Annex, is just one part of the Johnson City campus, which also includes the University's School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, the Pharmaceutical Research and Development Center, and the Ford Family Wellness Center for Seniors.

26. University Art Museum

Four things that make the museum special
 

27. Memorial Courtyard

Located in the outside center of the Fine Arts Building, the courtyard has long been a place where campus-community members can find solace and relaxation. Besides flowers and benches, the courtyard includes a memorial for the 15 alumni who died on Sept. 11, 2001; memorial trees and plaques; and a Henry Moore sculpture: Reclining Figure on Pedestal.

28. University Union

The Campus Pub. The Undergrounds. Slipped Disc Records. WHRW. The bookstore. The Mandela Room. Renting videos. Package pick-ups. Bowling. Billiards. The MarketPlace. Late Nite. The Fleischman Center. Built in 1960, the Union became bigger and better in 2002 with its University Union West wing.

29. Peace Quad

The green space between the University Union and the Couper Administration Building has been a hub for student activity for decades. The fall University Fest has been held on the quad for nearly 35 years. Students also gather there on nice days for games, relaxation, club meetings, and even to get a graduation photo taken at the berm. The historical site also has a plaque with Harpur College’s longtime motto: “From breadth through depth to perspective.”

30. The Brain

How appropriate! The Vestal campus is designed in the shape of a brain (seen above in 1964), with most academic buildings “inside the brain” and walkways and most student housing on the outside. “It was well-thought-out when it started,” campus architect Bill Hall told 91���� Magazine in 2024. “I think as we move forward, we’ve paid attention to what the history was, what was here — and built on it rather than changing it.”

 

80 Things to Love about 91����
 

The people

The history

The cornerstones