Administration Building

Administration Building. . Built at the north end of the first campus football field, the Administration Building was completed in 1956. In addition to administrative offices, it housed third-floor classrooms and was considered the center of campus in both location and design. Its tower was a memorial to President Emeritus W. Joseph McConnell, who died in 1955. He oversaw the construction of 22 major building as president from 1934 to 1951. Building a tower had been a longtime dream on campus, and several designs were proposed through the years. The first, drawn up in 1928 by architect and former student O'Neil Ford, included features that were later incorporated into McConnell Tower. Envisioned as a memorial to students who served in World War I, Ford's tower also was designed with an illuminated clock and chimes to replace the old curfew bell. The Depression ended the plans for that tower, but the money collected helped furnish the new union, dedicated as a student veteran memorial in 1949. Several hundred people attended the dedication of McConnell Tower and its symphonic carillon in 1956, and many more heard the bells throughout town. The tower was said to stand "as a symbol of our hands and hearts and heads uplifted to greater service to public education." In a longstanding campus tradtition, green lights illuminate the tower after athletic victories. In 2002, the building was named in honor of Chancellor and President Emeritus Alfred F. Hurley and his wife Johanna. He served as president and chancellor from 1982 to 2000 and as the first full-time chancellor from 2000 to 2002.