25 of the Most Beautiful College Campuses In the South
There's just something so charming about these sprawling Southern campuses.
There's nothing that signals the transition from summer to fall quite like watching students go back to school, when lazy summer days are given structure once again. Whether you're an alumni reminiscing on your favorite college memories, or a parent gearing up for an empty nest, we've rounded up the prettiest Southern college campuses that will make you wish you were headed back to school, too.
Wake Forest University
Location: Winston Salem, NC
Wake Forest University's most recognizable campus building is the Wait Chapel (pictured), which is named after the university's founder Samuel Wait who started the private school in 1834.
University of Texas
Location: Austin, Texas
If you attend a University of Texas home football game, look out for the school's mascot, a longhorn named Bevo—yes, a live longhorn actually attends the game! In 1915, when UT defeated Texas A&M 13-0, the football team changed the 13 to a B, the hyphen to an E, and added a V before the 0, to get the name Bevo.
Clemson University
Location: Clemson, South Carolina
Founded in 1889, Clemson University is a science- and engineering-focused college that sits on 1,400 lovely acres in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains.
Davidson College
Location: Davidson, North Carolina
Freshmen at Davidson College take part in a Honor Code signing ceremony and the Cake Race, a voluntary 1.7-mile race around town that first started in 1930 as a way for the track coach to identify talent. The prize at the finish line? A homemade cake.
University of Georgia
Location: Athens, Georgia
The University of Georgia's charter was signed in 1785, making it Georgia's oldest institution of higher learning and the birthplace of higher education in America.
Today, the university has 17 colleges and schools that carry on the school's motto of "to teach, to serve, and to inquire into the nature of things."
Texas Christian University
Location: Fort Worth, Texas
Situated in the heart of downtown Fort Worth, Texas Christian University has a beautiful 283-acre campus. TCU was originally founded in 1873 in Thorp Spring, Texas but moved to Waco in 1895 before moving to its present location in 1911.
University of Richmond
Location: Richmond, Virginia
The University of Richmond was originally chartered as Richmond College in 1840. It's the only school with a spider as its mascot. Why? Well, because in 1894 sports writer Evan Raglund Chesterman used the term "spider" to describe the baseball team's pitcher Puss Ellyson’s "lanky arms and stretching kick."
College of William and Mary
Location: Williamsburg, Virginia
As the second oldest college in the nation, the College of William and Mary was chartered in 1693 by King William III and Queen Mary II of England. It's considered a "Public Ivy," one of only eight in the country.
Texas A&M University
Location: College Station, Texas
Texas A&M University is well-known for its numerous student traditions like the Midnight Yell practice and Fish Camp, not to mention the Aggie Ring, which dates back to 1889.
Before students graduate, they wear their Aggie Rings with the class year facing themselves to signify their time at A&M is not yet finished. But as students are about to graduate, the Association of Former Students holds a ceremony in which students turn their rings to face the world.
University of South Carolina
Location: Columbia, South Carolina
As an effort to unite South Carolinians after the American Revolution, South Carolina College— the precursor to the University of South Carolina—was established in 1801. The school's design was influenced by Robert Mills, who also designed the Washington Monument.
Stetson University
Location: DeLand, Florida
As the oldest building in Florida still in use for academic purposes, Stetson's DeLand Hall opened in 1884 and cost only $4,000 to construct. Later, in 1951, the campus's iconic Art Deco Holler Fountain (pictured) was installed in front of Elizabeth Hall, which is also one of the historic university's original buildings.
University of Mississippi
Location: Oxford, Mississippi
The Lyceum, the first structure built on the University of Mississippi (or "Ole Miss") campus, was built in 1848 and still stands today. Ole Miss, a school steeped in Southern traditions, is most well-known for its emphasis on Saturday football tailgates that take place in an oak-lined, 10-acre grassy plot dubbed The Grove.
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Location: Chapel Hill, North Carolina
One of the most iconic landmarks on the Chapel Hill campus, the Old Well is rumored to bring good luck all year long if students take a sip from its water on the first day of class. With a balance of open natural areas, the university was also designated in 1999 as a national landmark for outstanding landscape architecture by the American Society of Landscape Architects.
Belmont University
Location: Nashville, Tennessee
In the middle of Belmont University's 75-acre campus in downtown Nashville, you will find the 155-year-old Belmont Mansion, which is on the National Register of Historic Places. The mansion was originally intended as a summer home for one of the wealthiest families in the South during the 1800s but is now the campus social center.
Elon University
Location: Elon, North Carolina
Designated as a botanical garden, Elon University's 636-acre campus includes a 56-acre forest, a land preserve designed for research, and a solar farm that provides sustainable energy for the school. Just recently, the Association of Physical Plant Administrators awarded Elon the 2016 Sustainability Award, which only seven other academic institutions have won.
Loyola University New Orleans
Location: New Orleans, Louisiana
Amid palm trees and ornate architecture, Loyola University New Orleans sits in the heart of the city. Each year, to celebrate an incoming class in traditional New Orleans second-line style, the freshman are led by a brass band, ending the walk with a class photo in front of the iconic Loyola letters on the front lawn.
Florida State University
Location: Tallahassee, Florida
Founded in 1851, Florida State University, or FSU, is the oldest higher learning institution in the state of Florida. The Westcott Fountain and the Heritage Tower are two of the most prominent landmarks on campus, paying homage to the school's founders and original students.
University of Alabama
Location: Tuscaloosa, Alabama
This 1,800-acre campus is filled with historic buildings built before the Civil War, but football is what really draws people to this Southern school. Many of the University of Alabama's popular traditions and sayings involve game days; if you're an alumni, you're familiar with the term "Crimson Tide," which was coined by former Birmingham Age-Herald sports editor Hugh Roberts during a1907 game against Auburn that was played in a "sea of crimson mud."
Emory University
Location: Druid Hills, Georgia
Emphasizing Georgia's natural beauty, Emory University's campus rests on 600 acres in Druid Hills, a park-like residential area north of Atlanta that was designed by Frederick Law Olmstead, the same landscape architect behind New York City's Central Park. The campus is also known for its pink and gray marble buildings that line the Quadrangle where commencement ceremonies take place.
Tulane University
Location: New Orleans, Louisiana
Among the beautiful limestone-clad buildings on campus, one of the most famous buildings is Gibson Hall built in 1894 in the Richardsonian Romanesque style that was made popular by New Orleans-based architect H.H. Richardson. Embracing New Orleans culture, Tulane is known for its music festival, Crawfest, that serves up more than 18,000 pounds of free crawfish.
Madison Alcedo was the Assistant Editor at WomansDay.com and Redbookmag.com.
Alan Jackson’s “Remember When” Has Sweet Backstory
Kane Brown Returns to Stage After Injury
How to Watch Alan Jackson’s Final Concert on TV
Natalie Alyn Lind Reveals Oreana Jackson is 24
