Carnegie Mellon University, usually referred to as Carnegie Mellon, was created in 1900 by Andrew Carnegie to provide vocational education for the children of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania steel workers. At the time of its creation, the university was known as the Carnegie Technical Schools. In 1912, the school was renamed as the Carnegie Institute of Technology, or CIT.

In 1967, the Carnegie Institute of Technology merged with the Mellon Institute to form Carnegie Mellon University.

Today, Carnegie Mellon is comprised of seven colleges and schools:

Carnegie Institute of Technology (the college of engineering)
College of Fine Arts
College of Humanities and Social Sciences
Graduate School of Industrial Administration
H. John Heinz III School of Public Policy and Management
Mellon College of Science
School of Computer Science


Since its inception, Carnegie Mellon has had eight presidents, most of whom have buildings on campus named after them:

Arthur A. Hamerschlag (Hamerschlag House - a freshman men's dormitory, and Hammerschlag Hall -
      Electrical/Computer Engineering)
Thomas S. Baker (Baker Hall - Humanities and Social Sciences)
Robert E. Doherty (Doherty Hall - primarily Mellon College of Science)
John C. Warner (Warner Hall - administration)
H. Guyford Stever
Richard M. Cyert (Cyert Hall - computing services)
Robert Mehrabian
Jared L. Cohon (current president)

As for a description of the campus, Carnegie Mellon University is in the Oakland neighborhood of Pittsburgh. It is bounded by Fifth Avenue to the north, and Flagstaff Hill and Schenley park to the south opposite Baker Hall and Porter Hall on Frew Street. To the west, CMU faces a sizable ravine, then the Carnegie Museum, Music Hall, and Library. To the east extends Squirrel Hill along Forbes. The Mellon Institute and the Software Engineering Institute are separated from the rest of the campus by a short bus ride when the weather is unpleasant (as it often is in Pittsburgh), or an enjoyable walk when the weather is more agreeable.

At the center of campus is The Fence. The Fence is quite possibly the most frequently painted object in the world. There are certain traditions and rules regarding the painting of The Fence. It may only be painted at night. The whole Fence must be painted. Also, unless two people from your organization are guarding The Fence, another organization may claim it. Fraternities use The Fence to announce parties, and suchlike, but any group of people, however loosely conglomerated, may claim and paint the fence.

There are three open grassy areas on the campus. The Cut extends from Forbes Avenue to The Fence in between the University Center and Purnell Center for Performing Arts. The CFA Lawn is bounded by the College of Fine Arts building, The Fence, Hunt Library, and another grassy area with trees called The Mall. The Mall is bounded by academic buildings on three sides, and is often the site of pick-up soccer, cricket, volleyball, ultimate frisbee, and capture the flag games. Pitt students are jealous of the trees and grass, or so I hear.

Be sure to do the following things if you happen upon Dear Old Tech in your travels. Find the mooning gargoyle on the facade of the CFA building. Also, take a look at the ceiling in the CFA, it's quite pretty. Incidentally parts of ‘The Wonder Boys’ were filmed in the CFA and at other places on campus. Next, stop into Baker Hall to see the gently sloping hallway. It's like that because Carnegie planned on turning the place into a factory if the School failed. Furthermore, wander around Wean Hall for a while. Inside you'll find another library, numerous computer labs, lots of nooks and crannies which make for great fun when the KGB hosts capture the flag with stuff, and architect's leap, at the bottom of which can usually be found a slew of monitors no longer in good working order due to inebriated CS majors making sure that gravity still works.

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