In honor of my daughter’s starting her freshman year at Willamette University in Salem OR, for this week’s post I am going to show some Willamette doors.

Until I moved to the US west coast I did not know much about the school, but I did read about it in Loren Pope’s excellent college guidance book, Colleges That Change Lives. I liked the fact that it is considered student centered, that teaching is a priority for the professors and several of them have won Oregon statewide teaching awards, that class sizes are small, that no one gets lost in the shuffle. More importantly, my daughter wanted to attend a small school like that rather than a big, potentially impersonal, state university.
Waller Hall, the oldest building on campus. Built in the Renaissance style of architecture, it is currently used for administration offices and is also the oldest university building west of the Mississippi in the US still in use. Designed in the shape of a Greek cross, each side has the same measurements and the top has a cupola.
After we moved I got to know a friend whose son went to Willamette and loved it, which moved it up the list a little further. They also taught me how to pronounce the name (“It’s Wil-LAM-it, dammit”). I have relatives in Seattle so I had visited the Pacific Northwest periodically when I was growing up and I knew that it is a beautiful area, but the weather is a bit different than in California. Our visit to the area a year and a half ago, during which it rained virtually non-stop, confirmed both impressions.
August in Salem was beautiful, warm, and sunny. The campus is a mix of older and newer architectural styles.
The Pelton Theater entrance reminds us of our time in China, with its female and male lions guarding the entrance:

Willamette’s library is named after Mark O Hatfield, a Willamette alumnus, professor, Oregon State Governor, and Oregon’s longest-serving US Senator.
And here are a few other doors that I thought were especially remarkable or pretty as I walked around campus:
Before I left campus, I bought this car magnet for the rear hatch door of my car. It says “Willamette University mom,” and has a pawprint from the university’s mascot, the bearcats.

Thursday Doors is a weekly feature allowing door lovers to come together to admire and share their favorite door photos from around the world! This week it is hosted by Jolene at Joeyfully Stated while Norm 2.0 is on vacation. Her post shows a secret “cow path” where the students trod on a different campus.
Love the Waller Hall tree entrance. I’m a little obsessed with doors(and windows) too 🙂 🙂
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I love seeing different campuses and so I extra enjoyed your post – and best wishes to your daughter (wow – quite the milestone) 🙂
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She seems to be enjoying it so far. And I get texts from her every day so it’s almost like she’s here. The cat doesn’t understand why she’s not there, though.
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Yes – the cat just feels the absence without the joy of gasping the milestone!
Congrats 😉
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Looks like a lovely campus. All the best to your daughter in this new endeavor!
janet
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Hi KL – what a lovely looking place … and I’m sure your daughter will be happier with small – much more conducive to learning, life and generally easing into adulthood. Lovely to see… cheers Hilary
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like those who say “but it’s a dry heat,” we would tell people, “but it’s a light rain” (which is why we don’t ever use umbrellas)
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While we were touring campus, they gave the visitors huge umbrellas with the school colors. But it’s true, the tour guide herself didn’t use one!
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