Parent Handbook - Parents Association - University of Connecticut

Building on a Tradition of Excellence
Late in 1880, brothers Charles and Augustus Storrs
offered the state of Connecticut a former Civil War
orphanage, 170 acres of farmland, and a few barns to
establish an agricultural school for boys.
Their gift also included $5,000 to purchase equipment
and supplies. On April 21, 1881 the Connecticut
General Assembly voted to establish the Storrs
Agricultural School. It opened five months later on
September 28, 1881, with three faculty members and
12 students.
The School’s first six students graduated in 1883 with
two-year certificates in agriculture. It would not be
until 1914 that four-year degrees were conferred by
what was then the Connecticut Agricultural College.
When Storrs Agricultural School became Storrs
Agricultural College in 1893, Benjamin Franklin
Koons was named the first president of the institution.
Koons, a Civil War veteran and college graduate,
opened classes to women in 1891 and oversaw the
College’s first decade of growth.
Storrs Agricultural College became Connecticut
Agricultural College in 1899. The name Connecticut
State College followed in 1933.
The institution officially became the University of
Connecticut in 1939. Since then, UConn has undergone
countless construction projects to make our University
bigger, better, and more engaging.
One of UConn’s most recent projects is Laurel Hall,
which opened in fall 2011. It is a state of the art, 42
million dollar classroom building with 67,000 gross
square feet.
Laurel Hall contains two large lecture halls, seating
200 and 400, and seventeen other classrooms that seat
between 25 and 70. All of the classrooms have hightech
capabilities. It is the first building on campus
dedicated solely to classrooms. The building also
features environmental/sustainable energy features
such as a “green roof”, efficient fixtures that will
reduce water consumption by an estimated 48%,
energy-efficient lighting, abundant natural light, and
high-performance insulation.
Oak Hall opened in Fall 2012. Oak Hall is a state
of the art, 53 million dollar building with roughly
130,000 square feet.
The top three floors of Oak Hall house faculty
offices, with a large lecture hall and twenty other
classrooms throughout the building. The new
classrooms and lecture hall are all equipped with
high-tech audiovisual capability. Oak Hall also has
energy-efficient features.
Construction projects such as Laurel Hall and Oak
Hall ensure a continuation of the tradition of UConn
excellence that started in 1880 with a gift from the
Storrs brothers.
Inside Laurel Hall
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