Franklin College (Indiana) - Campus

Campus

Located in Franklin, the college's 187-acre (0.76 km2) campus includes its athletic fields and a 31-acre (130,000 m2) woodland for biology study. Nearly all the buildings on campus are placed around an ellipse known as Dame Mall, named after John Dame, the first ever graduate from Franklin College. The buildings are on all sides and two sidewalks run through for people to walk on.

A majority of campus activity happens in the Napolitan Student Center, which is home to the dining hall (dubbed SAGA by students due to a previous food provider), the college bookstore, a large atrium, convenience store known as Ben's Den, student activity center, security office, conference rooms, guidance offices, nurse's clinic and the Branigin Room, which is a large room that is used for presentations, award ceremonies and numerous other functions. Another common place to find activities is the Spurlock Center, which is complete with a fitness center, gymnasium, indoor track, the athletic hall of fame and athletic offices. It was built in the 1920s due to the large crowds who came to Franklin to watch the famous Franklin Wonder Five basketball team play. This is also where pep rallies, school assemblies, commencement and numerous presentations involving guest speakers are held.

Educational buildings

• Old Main, the iconic clock tower located at the campus entrance, Old Main holds classes for most subjects, the technology help center, computer labs and Custer Theatre where choir concerts and other functions take place. At the top of the first flight of stairs in the front is a wooden stand with a bust of Benjamin Franklin that is known for having paint rubbed off its nose due to students touching it (college legend says doing so before class will bring good luck).
• Barnes Hall, this is where most lab science classes are held and can be marked by the greenhouse next to it
• Johnson Center for Fine Arts, called JCFA for short, this is where fine art and leadership classes are held. School plays also are performed here at the Theatre Margot.
• Shirk Hall, where journalism classes are held and is home to The Franklin, the college's weekly student-run newspaper
• Hamilton Library, the campus library with a 24 hour computer lab, auditorium, Academic Resource Center, Silent Study area (2nd floor) and Disability Services.
• The Annex, a one-classroom house right off campus near the football field.

Residence buildings

• Elsey Hall, a predominately freshmen dormitory that has exclusively double rooms (with the exception of RA rooms, but others can use one as a single for a fee). Originally, it was the only female dormitory on campus and Elsey is connected to the four Panhellenic suites belonging to the three (formerly four) sororities.
• Hoover-Cline, two buildings connected by a glass tunnel and conveniently located in the center of campus. Provides singles, doubles and quads (exclusive to Hoover).
• Johnson-Dietz, for upperclassmen only, Johnson-Dietz is two separate buildings and popular due to the residential suites with bay windows that are occupied by 3-4 people. Many on campus refer to it as "The Sections" because several suited are grouped in a particular section marked by a letter.
• Dietz Center, for upperclassmen only, single rooms and suites are available here. Popular for its environment, this building is also used for community purposes.

All campus-owned residence halls have air-conditioning, host events organized by RAs and starting with the 2012-2013 year, Wi-Fi and free laundry will also be available. Each of the fraternities also has their own house; numerous other houses on campus are reserved for upperclassmen Three of them have recently been turned into specialty houses called La Casa (founded 2011, exclusively Spanish-speaking), Chez FC (founded 2012, exculsively-French speaking) and the Martin Luther King Beloved Community (founded 2012, for students involved in the Interfaith Youth Core on campus).

The school has a voluntary association with the Baptist Church, though interfaith is widely accepted on campus and people with all sorts of beliefs attend. Religious activities take place in the Richardson Chapel on campus as well as certain presentations, concerts, classes, club meetings and even weddings.