The first things we check before applying to a university are the college ranking, available faculties, and curriculum. We care less about the history of the university and the people who graduated before us.
However, most of the universities from all around the world carry amazing facts about their establishment, history, and survival. It is interesting to know more about the building where you will spend the next five years or more before applying. We gathered the following facts about a couple of them to show you that a university is more than just a place we go to learn.
Princeton University
The famous Princeton university was founded in Elizabeth, New Jersey, but moved to Princeton in 1756. It is one of the Ivy League schools and has the lowest tuition fees in the league. Moving on to the most impressive part, one of its graduates, Charles Pete, was the third man to walk on the moon. He was so proud of his school that he planted its flag on the surface!
Columbia University
Columbia is one of the oldest schools in the United States and hosted more than 32,000 students from all around the world. This is an alert for the light-hearted because this fact is spooky and still a mystery until this day. There was an enormous sphere situated in the center of the campus, and one day, it went missing and completely disappeared for the next sixty years.
The sculpture was found in 2001 in a field near Ann Arbor in Michigan, which is over eight-hundred miles west of New York. No one had any explanation back then or even now because it is extremely difficult to remove the sphere, hide it, and then put it out there in the middle of a field. Today, its base remains empty on campus which has some Latin words engraved meaning; “Await, this hour, time will come.”
University of Cambridge
The University of Cambridge was founded by a couple of troubled scholars from Oxford. Even though there are many universities listed in the European continent, this one has always ranked as one of the best schools in history. It was also granted a royal charter by King Henry the Third in 1231. It is one of the oldest institutions in London and the fourth-oldest university in the world.
However, it was known for its mischievous students and their dangerous attitudes. They were referred to by writers as the Night Climbers, who used to climb the walls of the university after being locked up. They formed a secret club called Alpine Society and would agree on doing some of the most devilish acts that no one expected from well-educated individuals.
University of Ibadan
Ibadan is one of the most established universities in Nigeria which was founded in 1960 before the country gained its independence. It started with just 104 students and had only three faculties. Moreover, it didn’t witness a first-class graduate until sixty-nine years after its foundation. However, it is the first Nigerian establishment to make it into the top 1000 in Higher Education rankings.
London School of Economics and Political Science
One of the universities that have always been big on gender equality, fairness, and against racism is The London School of Economics and Political Science. It opened its doors to women and men equally right from the start as well as to people of color.
Various icons gave speeches in the same hall at this university. For instance, Mahatma Gandhi and boxing legend Muhammed Ali took the stage in the same place but forty years apart. The latest spoke of politics and black power, trying to educate people that color, religion, and gender shouldn’t separate us.
Stanford University
Stanford University was established by the broken-hearted Governor and Senator, Leland Stanford, with the help of his wife. They dedicated it to the memory of their deceased child who died at the age of fifteen. It is a prestigious institution, however, they never considered private admission because they wanted to help the children of their country because they were helpless about their child’s condition. The university started to request fees in the mid-1930s to continue delivering high-quality education.
Knowing the history of the place that you will choose to study in is important because you will become a reflection of it. Almost every university has a history, whether it was good or bad, and the best institution is the one that corrects its past mistakes. From mystery and mischievous establishments to sentimental ones, they all aim towards educating people and making respectable civilians out of them.