Cornell College - Campus Buildings

Campus Buildings

The most widely recognizable building on Cornell's campus is King Chapel. The chapel is the site of the annual convocation at the commencement of the school year as well as the baccalaureate service in the spring for graduating students. The chapel contains a large organ (over 3000 pipes) and is often the site of musical performances. No classes are held in the chapel, and religious services are held in the nearby Allee Chapel.

Old Sem, for a short while the only building of the original college, now houses administrative offices of the college.

Cornell contains 9 academic buildings. College Hall (also sometimes called "Old Main"), the second-oldest building of the college, houses classrooms and offices of several social science and humanities departments. South Hall, originally a male dormitory, houses the Politics and English Departments. Prall House contains offices and classrooms of the Philosophy and Religion Departments. The Merle West Science Center houses the Physics, Biology, and Chemistry Departments. West Science contains the school's only stadium seating lecture-style classroom, with a capacity around 100. The Norton Geology Center contains both an extensive museum and classrooms for geological sciences. Law Hall includes the Math, Computer Science, and Psychology Departments, and also is the computing hub of the campus. McWethy Hall, formerly a gymnasium, was remodeled and now contains the studios and offices of the Art Department. Armstrong Hall and Youngker Hall are adjoining fine arts buildings. Armstrong Hall is the location of the Music Department, while Youngker Hall contains the Theatre Department, including Kimmel Theatre. In addition, the Small Sport Center and the Lytle House contain classrooms of the Kinesiology Department.

Cole Library serves both the college and the Mount Vernon community.

Cornell has several residence halls. Pfeiffer Hall, Tarr Hall, and Dows Hall together form the "Tri-Hall" area. Tarr was once an all-male residence hall, but now houses both males and females. Dows is an all-female residence hall, and Pfeiffer is co-ed for all years. Pfeiffer was extensively renovated in 2008. Pauley-Rorem Hall is a combination of two residence halls that are joined in the middle by a common set of stairs. Until 2012-2013, female first-years resided in Pauley, and male first-years resided in Rorem. In the school year of 2012-2013, both residence halls became coed by floor. Olin Hall and Merner Hall are co-ed upper-class residence halls. New Hall and Russell Hall (formerly Clock Tower Hall) were opened in 2005 and 2007, respectively, and offer suite-style living. Students may choose more independent living options in apartments at 10th Avenue, Armstrong House, and Harlan House, and even at the Sleep Inn through an arrangement with Cornell. Nearly all Cornell students are required to live on-campus or in campus apartments, so most students do not rent non-college housing, and many students choose to live in the residence halls for all four years at Cornell.

The Cornell campus is centered around a modest hill, the feature noted in the moniker "Hilltop Campus." Several campus buildings are grouped on the hilltop, while the athletic facilities and some residential buildings are located farther downhill on the campus's northwest side.