Back to the Quad

If you’re a Case grad, you’ve strolled the paths of Case Quad. You’ve relaxed under its shade trees. You’ve rushed to class in one of its iconic buildings, all the while traversing the history of the Case School of Engineering.

The formal name of the secluded world bounded by Crawford Hall and the Bingham Building is the Kent H. Smith Quadrangle. But most alumni and students know it as Case Quad or, simply, the Quad. Many alumni of Case Institute of Technology knew it as campus.

The oldest part of the CWRU campus, the Quad began with the vision of Leonard Case Jr., who endowed the Case School of Applied Science, which began to establish itself on the plateau above Doan Brook in 1885.

Much has changed on this shady stretch of grass and flower gardens. Students no longer cross the shadow of Case Main, which was razed in 1972, nor sleep in Yost Hall, which opened as a dormitory in 1951.

Today, they recharge mobile phones at one of the solar charging picnic tables beside the MichelsonMorley Fountain, which honors the famous physics experiment conducted nearby. And the Quad now extends all the way to Sears think[box], the university’s popular new innovation center.

But much remains familiar and unchanged. Students still file into physics in Rockefeller, learn to weld steel in Bingham, and meet friends for lunch in the basement of Tomlinson. They can, on select nights — including October 11 and 12 — catch a movie at Strosacker and gaze at the stars from the observatory atop the A.W. Smith Building.

For Homecoming 2019, alumni are invited back to the Quad, to the heart of their Case experience. Special tours and exhibits will shower attention on Case Quad and maybe show you some things you had forgotten — or could never forget.

Two flights of steep, narrow stairs lead to the dome atop the A.W. Smith Building. Inside, pointing skyward, is a Warner and Swasey 9.5-inch (24cm) refracting telescope donated to the Case School of Applied Science in 1919. For years, it enabled students and researchers to explore the heavens from campus. As a special Homecoming event, the observatory will be open for daytime tours and nighttime viewing.

The Case Amateur Radio Club operates from the ham radio shack on the roof of the Glennan Building. Club members will be up there most of Saturday, October 12, talking with amateur radio operators around the world about the Michelson-Morley experiment. You’re invited to come up and see the operation and even get on the air with W8EDU.

A walking tour of historic Case Quad will leave from the Tinkham Veale University Center, outside of the Michelson & Morley Restaurant, at 2 p.m. Friday, October 11. It should wind back to The Jolly Scholar in time for the 3 p.m. alumni mixer.

The Case School of Engineering is attracting stellar students in record numbers. Dean "Ragu" Balakrishnan will share his vision and answer questions during Coffee and Chat with the Dean, 10 a.m. Friday, October 11, in the lobby of Tomlinson Hall. While in Tomlinson, view the Joe Prahl exhibit in the trophy case newly dedicated to former CAA president Tom Litzler ’53, MS ’62.

Wittke Award winner Harold Connamacher, one of the most popular professors at the Case School of Engineering, welcomes you to observe an entry-level course in computer programming at 2:15 p.m. Friday, Oct. 11. Just as in college, space is limited — to 100 alumni — so register early.

Tours of the university’s seven-story innovation center, one of the most popular facilities on campus, run from 1 to 3 p.m. both Friday and Saturday of Homecoming weekend.

The CWRU Film Society has been screening 35mm films on campus for more than four decades. They invite you to enjoy a movie and a bag of popcorn at Strosacker Auditorium. On Friday night they’re showing The Fifth Element and on Saturday night the original Wizard of Oz.