Student Center

Welcome to the student center, a center for community life on the University of Minnesota, Morris (UMM) campus.   This 1992 addition to the campus marks the fulfillment of the long-term vision and commitment of UMM students whose persistent advocacy culminated in its completion.

The Student Center reflects the rich history of the campus.   Beginning in 1887, the site first served as home to an American Indian Boarding School operated by the Sisters of Mercy.   In 1897, the US government purchased the property for an American Indian School which continued until 1909 when the property passed to the state of Minnesota for an agricultural school.   A condition of the property transfer was that tuition would be waived for American Indian pupils; UMM honors this legislation today.   The West Central School of Agriculture (WCSA) opened to area high school students in 1910.   For the next 50 years, the WCSA offered a residential, secondary education curriculum with emphasis on agriculture and home economics.   In 1959, the Regents of the University of Minnesota established a new four-year liberal arts college on this site.   The first group of 238 university students arrived in the fall of 1960.  

The three primary gathering spaces of the Student Center commemorate the history of the campus.  

• Turtle Mountain Café recognizes the early years when many of the first students to be educated on the campus came from the Turtle Mountain Indian Reservation in North Dakota.
• Edson Auditorium honors West Central School of Agriculture superintendent, Allen W. Edson, who during his three decades with WCSA also serves as an instructor, horticulturalist, leader and friend.  
• Oyate (oy yá teh) Hall reflects the UMM community in its Alumni, Cougar and University rooms.   "Oyate" is a Lakota/Dakota expression meaning "the people."