UB’s North Campus is ugly.
Really ugly.
As a high school senior, that observation is what made me second-guess my decision to come to UB.
Could I really be happy somewhere that looks so dull and downtrodden?
I’m not alone in thinking campus is ugly. Over the years, UB has ranked high on lists of ugliest college campuses. Most recently, North Campus peaked as the fifth-ugliest campus in the U.S., according to Complex.
The campus’ ugliest buildings — Furnas Hall and Ellicott Complex — look like they could be in Soviet-era cities. Furnas sticks out like a sore thumb, towering above every other academic building and shooting the sad gray brick upward, making you feel small.
Ellicott Complex, designed to be confusing and isolating on purpose according to urban legends — legends claim it was to dissuade students from protesting during the Vietnam War — looks like the life-size version of a 5-year-old’s Lego creation.
And that ugliness left its mark. As a first-year student at UB, I left my hometown that has more state park-land than people, to a campus with barely any trees, I was homesick.
I hated — and still hate — being constantly surrounded by concrete and brick, as half-century old buildings loomed over me.
But at least I can walk.
Many of the buildings on both campuses are spread far apart making them inaccessible to students, faculty and staff with a disability or a hardship within the 10-minute period between classes.
Buses run between residence halls and apartments, but they only help if they keep on schedule. Students can’t and shouldn’t wait around longer just because they need extra assistance; it’s not equitable or accessible.
Campus lacks life and color. The few trees are vastly overshadowed by parking lots. Students frequently complain there isn’t enough parking, but much of campus is paved over, adding to the effect of a barren and sad-looking campus.
Even though there has been a concerted effort to plant more trees in the four years since I came to UB, notably along Mary Talbert Way, the campus still has an empty feeling to it. The long stretch between Greiner and the Student Union is completely bare — save for a few disc golf receptacles —while the Academic Spine is only lined by a handful of trees.
During the warmer months, there are few places to sit outside along the Spine and enjoy the sunshine. Students are forced to pack onto benches and rocks outside of the SU. If they throw a frisbee or sit on the grass adjacent to Baird Point, UB’s favorite and most notorious critter, the goose, might leave them with a present. After all, lawns are the perfect environment for geese and that’s all UB has to offer.
It shouldn’t come as a surprise that green space can improve mental health. The CDC says that the more exposure people have to the outdoors, the less stress they have. The first warm day of every semester is like an oasis, where everyone just seems happier, as they smile and chat away.
UB can and should invest more in its environment. Renovating buildings takes time to plan and budget. For example, One World Café only opened this year despite originally being projected to be completed in 2020.
Investing in outdoor spaces and making campus more accessible would be a game changer for helping students adjust to UB. It wouldn’t take as long as constructing new buildings, it would make campus prettier and most importantly, it would be a good first step in improving students’ mental health.
UB can and should invest in the outdoors immediately.
Julie Frey is a senior news/features editor and can be reached at julie.frey@ubspectrum.com
Julie Frey is a senior news/features editor at The Spectrum. She is a political science and environmental studies double major. She enjoys theorizing about Taylor Swift, the color yellow and reading books that make her cry. She can be found on Twitter @juliannefrey.
