I started college at Indiana University Bloomington in 1995. Though living on the Bloomington campus was my first college experience, it was not my seminal one. Feeling confused and out of place, I left after just one semester, changing my major and finishing school at a college closer to home.

Feeling out of place was just one of the factors that led to my departure from Bloomington, but I can’t help but wonder if developing a better sense of connection to the campus might have encouraged me to stay. When I returned to Bloomington to work at Indiana University many years later, I began to develop that sense of connection by exploring the campus anew, often while walking my dogs on the weekends. I became enchanted with the many interesting architectural features and campus oddities and wondered how on earth I had missed them the first time around.

From sculpture to scientific specimens to more cemeteries than you might expect, the features highlighted in this book are just a small sample of what the Indiana University Bloomington campus has to offer. I hope learning about them will encourage you to embark on further explorations of the campus and find your own connection to this beautiful place.