Office of Admissions

Green and Gorgeous

When you imagine the ideal college campus, you probably picture impressive buildings and relaxing green spaces. It’s a combination IU has mastered. No wonder Thomas Gaines called our campus one of the most beautiful in the country in his book The Campus as a Work of Art.

Of course, our best reviews come from the students who live and learn here, play Frisbee in Dunn Meadow, read in our tree-filled Arboretum, study (and nap) by the fireplace in the Indiana Memorial Union, make discoveries in our classrooms and labs, delight crowds on our stages, and one day will become successful alumni who return to campus every chance they get.

Sustaining Our ‘Islands of Green’

IU students play a big role in preserving what former IU President Herman B Wells referred to our “islands of green and serenity.” In the 2009 IU Energy Challenge, 18 Greek houses and 10 residence halls competed to reduce their energy and water consumption. Together, they:

• Saved approximately 740,000 kilowatts of electricity and 1.6 million gallons of water,
• Reduced their energy costs by about $47,000, and
• Contributed to an avoided 1.1 million pounds of CO₂ emissions, the equivalent of taking 96 cars off the road for an entire year.

Through the IU Office of Sustainability and organizations like Volunteers in Sustainability, students have decorated bins to encourage recycling on campus, researched sustainability, and participated in IU’s Electronic Waste Collection Days, which gathered more than 700,000 pounds of electronic equipment for recycling and proper disposal.

How Will Our Campus Inspire You?

Visit IU and find out. We recommend stopping by when the trees are blossoming in the spring, or when the leaves are changing colors in the fall.