The University of Rochester has that stereotypical private university campus layout. Long grassy squares surrounded by dark brick buildings hugged by vines. Greek fraternities perpendicular to the main corridor. Neat rows of student housing arranged around pathways that radiate from a central plaza.
The university’s most iconic building is the Rush Rhees Library facing Eastman Commons. Rush Rhees was the university’s third president and friends with George Eastman, the founder of Eastman Kodak. Eastman funded MIT and the University of Rochester. There is a statue of Eastman between Morey and Lattimore Hall.
Another major donor, Joseph Wilson, founded the Xerox corporation, also in Rochester. All first-year students at the university have to participate in Wilson Days of Engagement to give back to the community. Both the Wilson Quadrangle and Wilson Commons were named after him. Wilson Commons was designed by architect I. M. Pei who also designed the glass pyramid at the Louvre in Paris, the John F. Kennedy Library in Boston, and the Bank of China Building in Hong Kong.
The five-pronged Susan B. Anthony Hall was named after the suffragette who fought for women’s right to vote in America. She spent much of her time in Rochester.
