The Main Quad

The expansive Main Quad contains the university's first buildings, constructed between 1887 and 1891. With its palm trees and sandstone arcades, the distinctively Northern California style of the Inner Quad has a calming influence on passersby, and students frequently can be found studying in the shadows of its arches, or sleeping on the edges of its sun-drenched planter islands.

The Stanford campus plan was designed by famed landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted, who designed New York's Central Park. The university's "Mission-style" architecture was strongly influenced by the Romanesque designs of H.H. Richardson. University architects Shepley, Rutan and Coolidge of Boston were young associates of the famous architect.

Departments and programs fortunate enough to have offices in the Quad include Cultural and Social Anthropology, Urban Studies, Classics and Asian Languages.

One of the Quad's arcades.

An aerial view of the Main Quad with the back of Memorial Church in the foreground. Photo: L.A. Cicero

The Quad also serves as the setting for numerous Stanford celebrations. The university president, joined by faculty and administrators, formally welcomes freshmen to campus each fall during Convocation, an Orientation ceremony in the Quad. But according to student tradition, the true rite of passage is "Full Moon on the Quad," when freshmen become "real" Stanford undergraduates by being kissed by a senior at midnight during the first full moon of the academic year. Students also celebrate their graduation in the Quad during the Baccalaureate ceremony, which takes place the day before the university-wide Commencement ceremony in Stanford Stadium. Other events in the Quad include the Student-Alumni Dance during Reunion Homecoming Weekend and the senior farewell dinner before graduation.