From history, traditions and student life, the Columns are one of the most memorable symbols of the University of Missouri. This year, the Homecoming theme is “Call of the Columns.”
“The Columns are the picture of Mizzou,” junior Sadie Dowhan said. “Whenever someone new comes to visit me, I take them to the circle drive looking at them for the perfect view.”
Although now an iconic structure of Mizzou, the Columns weren’t always just the Columns.
The first building constructed in 1840 was Academic Hall, which had six columns on the front. This essential building contained many university operations. On Jan. 9, 1892, tragedy struck the school when a chandelier in Academic Hall fell off the ceiling, causing a devastating fire. By the end of the night, the entire building was gone -– except the Columns.
According to the MU Archives, after the fire, the Board of Curators wanted to tear down the Columns, thinking that they blocked the view of the new Red Campus buildings, now Francis Quadrangle. Curator Gideon F. Rothwell even ordered two teams of mules, Missouri’s state animal, to tear them down.
However, several Columbia residents protested, including Jerry S. Dorsey. He was so passionate about the Columns staying up that he reportedly got into a fistfight with Rothwell.
The president of the Mizzou Alumni Association, Gardiner Lathrop, pleaded to the board in tears to keep the Columns and to raise them on mounds above the rest of campus. After public outcry to protect the Columns, and an architect confirming they could safely stay up, the board let the Columns stay on campus.
Rothwell himself had a change of heart, and he famously said, “Let these columns stand. Let them stand a thousand years.”
Sophomore tour guide Dorrian Davis likes to highlight the important history of the Columns on her tours.
“I think it shows resistance and courage because we didn’t know what was going to happen then,” Davis said.
The Columns are still an active part of student life today. The day before first-year students start their classes, the Mizzou Alumni Association holds Tiger Walk, where students start on the north side of the quad and run through the columns to Jesse Hall.
“My Tiger Walk was really significant for me because when I did it, I was on the phone with my mom because I’m a first-generation student,” Davis said. “So me running through the columns signified not just going to college for myself, but my whole family was going to come along with me.”
The tradition comes full circle when seniors get to run through the columns once again, this time from Jesse Hall to downtown Columbia to celebrate the end of their college chapter.
“Growing up in Columbia, I always saw the columns as an iconic part of both Mizzou and Columbia,” senior Alyssa Fitzgerald said. “This year, I’ll be doing Senior Sendoff, which will be very bittersweet. I think the Columns will be a reminder that it’s over, but also a great representation of how far I’ve come in the past four years.”
Edited by Jae Jepsen | [email protected]
Copy edited by Avery Copeland | [email protected]
Edited by Chase Pray | [email protected]
