Qualla: University of Arizona

University of Arizona: Introduction

Wed, 04 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit M.Fitzsimmons, CC BY-SA 3.0. Tucson wanted the insane asylum. The territorial capital of Prescott was distributing appropriations in 1885, and the asylum came with $100,000 while the university offered only $25,000. Flooding on the Salt River delayed Tucson's legislators, and by the time they reached Prescott, the backroom deals had been made. Tucson got the university nobody wanted. When the appropriation arrived, no landowner would donate property for the new school until two gamblers and a saloon keeper stepped forward with 40 acres of overgrazed rangeland between downtown and Fort Lowell. Construction on Old Main began October 27, 1887. Classes first met in 1891 with 32 students. Because no high schools existed in the Arizona Territory, the university had to offer preparatory courses for its first 23 years. That reluctant beginning produced what is now a Research 1 institution enrolling over 54,000 students.

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Image: M.Fitzsimmons | CC BY-SA 3.0

University of Arizona: Red Brick and Desert Landscaping

Wed, 04 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit en:User:Huperphuff, CC BY 3.0. Architect Roy Place, who designed many of Tucson's significant early 20th-century buildings, established the visual language of the campus. His use of red brick set a precedent that has shaped nearly every subsequent building: red brick as either the primary facade material or a ...

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Image: en:User:Huperphuff | CC BY 3.0

University of Arizona: A Bell from Pearl Harbor

Wed, 04 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Baah Thomas, CC BY 4.0. The Student Union Memorial Center was rebuilt between 2000 and 2003 with a deliberate architectural reference to the USS Arizona. Sculptures throughout the building honor military service, including dog tags that chime in the desert wind and prisms refracting light across interio...

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Image: Baah Thomas | CC BY 4.0

University of Arizona: Wildcats and a Real Bobcat Named Rufus

Wed, 04 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Philcomanforterie, CC BY-SA 4.0. The Wildcat name dates to a 1914 football game against Occidental College, then California state champions. The Los Angeles Times reported that 'the Arizona men showed the fight of wildcats,' and the nickname stuck. The university's first mascot, introduced in 1915, was an actual...

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Image: Philcomanforterie | CC BY-SA 4.0

University of Arizona: Mirrors, Mars, and the Optics Valley

Wed, 04 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Wcarlisle4, CC BY-SA 3.0. The University of Arizona has become synonymous with optical and space sciences. The Steward Observatory Mirror Lab, located beneath Arizona Stadium, is one of the few facilities in the world capable of casting the enormous mirrors used in major telescopes. The spinning furnace t...

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Image: Wcarlisle4 | CC BY-SA 3.0

University of Arizona: Turbulent Recent History

Wed, 04 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Unknown authorUnknown author or not provided, Public domain. The university has faced significant challenges in recent years. In 2002, three professors were murdered by a former student who had failed out of the program. In October 2022, another professor was killed on campus by a former student, prompting an independent safety investigati...

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Image: Unknown authorUnknown author or not provided | Public domain