The Memorial Union (MU) is the

student activity center A student center (or student centre) is a type of building found on university and some secondary school, high school campuses. In the United States, such a building may also be called a student union, student commons, or union. The term "student ...

Oregon State University Oregon State University (OSU) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Corvallis, Oregon, United States. OSU offers more than 200 undergraduate degree programs and a variety of graduate and doctor ...

Corvallis, Oregon Corvallis ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Benton County, Oregon, Benton County in central western Oregon, United States. It is the principal city of the Corvallis, Oregon Metropolitan Statistical Area, which encompasses all of Benton Co ...

, USA. It contains a ballroom, cafeteria, bowling alley, shops, and study areas. It was designed by Oregon Agricultural College (a predecessor of OSU) graduate

Lee Arden Thomas Lee Arden Thomas (1886–1953) was an architect in Bend, Oregon, Bend and Portland, Oregon, Portland, Oregon, United States. He graduated in 1907 from Oregon State University.George P. Edmonston JrUp Close and Personal: Campus TourOregon State Un ...

History

The idea to build the Memorial Union building originally came from veterans Warren Daigh and Tony Schille, Oregon State students. Their vision was that the building would be in commemoration of their fellow soldiers who had been killed in the line of duty during

WWI World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting took place mainly in Europe and th ...

. Groundbreaking occurred March 3, 1926.Memorial Union.
Oregon State University. Retrieved on April 7, 2009 The building was funded entirely with private donations and gifts at a cost of around $750,000, and a $3 per term assessment Oregon State students implemented beginning in January 1922. Memorial Union opened to the public on June 1, 1928. It was dedicated on June 1, 1929, by Judge James K. Weatherford, chair of the OAC Board of Regents. It is of Neoclassical design by OAC graduate Lee Thomas, with an exterior built mainly with red-colored bricks with white granite accents including a dome in the center. The MU is the smallest union building in the Pac-12, and the oldest. The building is one of the few OSU buildings of that era not attributed to

John Bennes John Virginius Bennes (August 23, 1867 – November 29, 1943) was an American architect who designed numerous buildings throughout the state of Oregon, particularly in Baker City and Portland. In Baker City he did an extensive redesign of the ...

, and has been described as "one of the finest examples of neoclassic architecture in Oregon."George P. Edmonston Jr
Up Close and Personal: Campus Tour
Oregon State University Alumni Association Thomas, the building's architect, was an alumnus based in Portland. The east and west wings (restaurant and commons) are later additions, having been added in 1960 and extensively renovated in the 1990s; the MU was owned by the Memorial Union Corporation until 1965 when it transferred the facility to the State Board of Higher Education. It has been "known to generations of Oregon Staters as simply the MU".

References

{{OSUtemplate 1928 establishments in Oregon Oregon State University buildings Student activity centers in the United States