Wright State University - Campus and Community

Campus and Community

As of fall 2011, according to statistics published by the university, it had a total enrollment of 19,600 (including 1,417 at the branch Lake Campus, located in Celina, Ohio). Wright State offers 186 degree programs, including 19 associate degrees, 91 bachelor's degrees, and 76 graduate and professional programs (including schools of medicine and professional psychology). Over 70 percent of freshmen live on campus. Approximately an additional 5,000 commuter students live in apartments less than one mile from campus, making the atmosphere increasingly more like that of a residential campus than a commuter school.

Wright State has a compact campus, with several academic buildings constructed following Allyn Hall. Key buildings on campus include the Founders' Quadrangle (quad) buildings, which are Allyn Hall (home to the College of Education and Human Services and Wright State dining option, The Hangar), Millett Hall (named for John Millett, former president of Miami University, and home of the College of Liberal Arts), Fawcett Hall (named after Novice Fawcett, president of Ohio State), and Oelman Hall (named after Robert Oelman, first president of the board of trustees, and the home of the College of Science and Mathematics).

Other buildings include Rike Hall (named after the founder of the Rike Kumler company, since merged into Federated Department Stores, home of the Raj Soin College of Business); the Diggs Laboratory (a Gold LEED certified building), University Hall (administrative offices, University College, and the College of Nursing and Health), the Creative Arts Center, the Mathematical and Microbiological Sciences Building (M&M), the Fritz and Dolores Russ Engineering Center (home of the College of Engineering and Computer Science), the Medical Sciences Building, Biological Sciences Building, Health Sciences Building (home of the School of Professional Psychology), Joshi Research Center, and the Student Union (which was created by combining the former gymnasium and University Center). The main university library is the Paul Laurence Dunbar library.

Across from the Mathematics and Microbiology building is an abstract sculpture titled "Turning Points," designed by David Black. This piece was created in 1998, as part of the Ohio Arts Council Percent for Arts Program and the addition of University Hall. The statue has been criticized for appearing very similar to many of Black's other works, most of which are displayed in public universities or public spaces. Among staff and students at the university, the statue is known as 'Big A** Red Thing,' or simply as 'BART.'

The entire campus is accessible to people with disabilities, and it has a national reputation for being an extremely welcoming and accommodating campus. The campus made history when it opened the Winegerd Service Dog Park in October 2008. Wright State is the first university in the nation to create a dog park especially for service dogs. A distinctive feature of Wright State is that one can travel around the main campus both by sidewalks outside and a tunnel network that connects almost all the buildings at the basement level.