Situated where the Bluegrass meets the Cumberland Mountains on the “Berea ridge” in south-central Kentucky, Berea’s 140-acre campus is far more than a collection of beautiful and historic buildings. It is the home of a unique and vital community shaped by the people who live here and the ideals to which they subscribe.
Berea’s campus is student-centered. Student activity spaces, classrooms, laboratories, and the library all are within walking distance of the College’s residence halls. Labor Program job sites typically are within easy walking distance. Outstanding facilities, from a campus-wide computer network to an athletic and wellness center, offer access to the latest in technology and equipment.
Most of the buildings on campus reflect the character, history, and grandeur of the College, while also demonstrating the power of state-of-the-art technologies to enhance teaching and learning. Berea’s traditional and modern architecture blends well. The sidewalks that crisscross the campus quadrangles offer intersections where Bereans meet, chat, and come to know and learn from one another.
Crossroads Complex
The Crossroads Complex is designed as a central location for student services, recreation, and educational support programs. Fairchild Hall, the oldest building on campus, was the first brick building erected in the region. Today it serves as a residence hall as well as home to several administrative services. In the Alumni Memorial Building, the College’s social center, are multipurpose recreation rooms, attractive student/faculty dining facilities, student-organization offices, the Black Cultural Center, lounges and meeting spaces, and a prayer room. The hub of the Crossroads Complex, Woods-Penniman Hall, houses the Francis and Louise Hutchins Center for International Education, the College Post Office, Student Government, The Café (with indoor and outdoor dining), The Commons, and the Residential Life and Collegium Office. Facilities are open around the clock for individual and group study.
Hutchins Library
The three-story Hutchins Library serves as Berea’s center of research, study, and educational technology. The building features research assistance areas, classrooms, educational technology labs, group study spaces, individual carrels, and seating areas to accommodate group projects, study groups, consultations with librarians and teaching assistants, and individual studying. Hutchins Library houses over 345,000 books, CDs, DVDs, and videos to support student and faculty research. An extensive collection of electronic resources (reference materials, books, journals, and streaming media) is available 24/7. Sources of historic information specific to the Appalachian region are housed on the lower level. Among its treasures are many rare manuscripts, photographs, sound recordings, and books; the College’s archives; the Weatherford-Hammond Appalachian Collection of publications; the Sound Archives of regional music and field recordings; and the Shedd Memorial Collection of Abraham Lincoln materials.
Lincoln Hall
The administration building, Lincoln Hall, built in the 1880s as a classroom and library facility, is included in the National Register of Historic Places. On the first floor are Student Accounts, Academic Services, Registrar's Office, and Student Financial Aid Services. Lincoln Hall also accommodates the President’s Office, Academic Vice President and Dean of the Faculty’s Office, and other administrative offices.
Academic Buildings
At the hub of Berea’s academic life are Draper, Frost, the Hall Science Building, and other academic buildings. Draper houses classrooms and faculty offices for six academic departments as well as the Campus Christian Center. Originally built in 1937, the renovated Draper includes the use of materials, design principles, and monitoring equipment that make it a model of sustainable and environmentally sound renovation while retaining the original character of the building. Frost houses four departments in the humanities and social sciences; the Hall Science Building houses the departments of natural science and accompanying laboratories, collections, a Foucault Pendulum, and a planetarium. Similarly, the Goldthwait Agricultural Building provides animal and plant laboratories essential to the study of agriculture and natural resources. Berea’s center for theatre is the Ross Jelkyl Drama Center, containing the McGaw and Musser theatres and the Theatre Laboratory studios. The Danforth Industrial Arts Building is the home of Berea’s Technology and Applied Design and Computer Science Departments. Presser Hall houses the campus concert hall (Gray Auditorium) and the offices and rehearsal facilities of the Music Department. The Rogers Memorial Art Building, connected to the Dimitrie Berea Gallery (2003), and the Traylor Building (1977) all provide art galleries that display visiting exhibits and the College’s own fine arts collection, as well as classrooms, Art Department faculty offices, and studios. The Education Studies Department is housed in the recently renovated Knapp Hall. The Child and Family Studies Department resides in the Emery Building, which dates back to 1924 and reopened in the Fall of 2009 after a year of extensive renovations, including newly designed classroom and laboratory facilities. The Harrison-McLain Home Management House serves as a laboratory facility for family resource management. Nursing students and faculty are located in the Hafer-Gibson Nursing Building. Most College-wide events take place in Phelps Stokes Chapel, built by students between 1904 and 1906.
Seabury Center
Berea’s Health and Human Performance Department, its 16 varsity athletic teams, and an array of recreational and intramural sports programs call the Seabury Center home. This regionally recognized facility offers gymnasia, an indoor pool, racquetball courts, indoor track, weight room, wellness center, state-of-the-art classrooms, and multipurpose spaces. Its main arena seats 2,000 for basketball games and 2,800 for stage events, and hosts the annual Spring commencement ceremony. Just outside are athletic fields, an all-weather track, and 11 tennis courts, five of which are lighted.
Residence Halls
Significant learning takes place in the College’s residence halls. As students build and sustain relationships with roommates, hallmates, and classmates, they hone interpersonal skills. Life-long friendships flourish in a variety of residential environments available at Berea. Students who are married and/or have dependent children may be offered family housing in the College’s Ecological Village.
Farm and Forest Land
On the outskirts of campus lies additional acreage owned by the College. Farm land, including an experimental farm, covers 1,400 acres, and the 7,000-acre Fay Forest serves as a watershed for the College and the town of Berea.