University of Rochester/River Campus

River Campus is the name given to the main University of Rochester campus. Shaped roughly like a "D," it is located in the city's Lilac Neighborhood and bordered on the east by Intercampus Drive and by Wilson Boulevard and the Genesee River on the west. Maps are available here and here. The River Campus is UR's central hub and home to its undergraduate students, with the exception of those attending the Eastman School of Music. It also contains the Warner School of Education and the Simon School of Business Administration.

The River Campus is actually the University of Rochester's third home. Founded in 1850, its infant years were spent in the United States Hotel until 1861, when it moved to Prince Street. Initially an all-male institution, the University had begun accepting female students in 1900, thanks in no small part to the indefatigable campaigning of Susan B. Anthony. Still, President Rush Rhees was unhappy with the decision, not because he disapproved of higher education for women but because he believed in separate coordinate colleges. This was finally achieved in 1930, when the River Campus finished construction and was opened as the University of Rochester College for Men. Located near the new Medical Center (completed in the 1920s), it also housed the University's science departments. The female students remained at Prince Street, now designated the College for Women. The costs of running two campuses eventually proved too burdensome, however, and the two Colleges merged in 1955. Spurrier Gymnasium and the Women's Residence Hall (now called Susan B. Anthony Hall) were built to accommodate the incoming women. Today, Spurrier is used primarily for music practice while "SueB" is a coed freshmen dorm. Most of the Prince Street buildings were sold off.

The original River Campus consisted of Rush Rhees Library (expanded in 1970), the four buildings surrounding the Eastman Quad (Dewey, Lattimore, Morey, and Bausch & Lomb), the Alumni Gymnasium (now part of the Goergen Athletic Center), the Frat Quad, and the Crosby and Burton residential halls. Many additional buildings have gone up since then, including the Interfaith Chapel and Wilson Commons, the student center designed and built by I.M. Pei. The River Campus library system has expanded considerably as well, particularly with Carlson Science and Engineering Library, located in the Computer Studies Building, completed in 2009. There are also several smaller libraries.

A footbridge to the 19th Ward was built in the late 1980s. In 2011 UR completed the Brooks Landing Project, which includes apartment-style dorms for upper-class undergrads and several storefronts, thereby extending the River Campus's reach to include both sides of the Genesee River.

The River Campus is also known for its tunnels. Above ground, its numerous and well-maintained trees earned UR a place in the Arbor Day Foundation's Tree Campus USA, an honor bestowed upon fewer than 100 schools nationwide.

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