Marion Harding High School, 1962

To kick off our series on Ohio State’s regional campuses, we’ll take a brief look at one of the first regional campuses to be created: Marion. Along with Newark, the Marion campus was approved for establishment by the Board of Trustees in 1957. The decision to establish these campuses came as a result of the growing number of people in Ohio and the need to provide access to higher education for those who didn’t have the means to leave their home area.

When the Marion branch first opened in 1957, it operated out of Marion Harding High School. The campus offered nighttime courses to high school students and other members of the community. In 1965, the land on which the Marion campus would sit was donated to the university. Governor Rhodes and University President Fawcett were present at the groundbreaking in 1966. The first building on the campus opened two years later in 1968. Eventually that building was renamed James Lewis Morrill Hall in honor of the former vice president of Ohio State. Today, Marion has 8 buildings that sit on 186 acres, a campus which also encompasses an 11-acre reconstructed prairie with trails that are used for biology courses and open to the general public for hiking.

James Lewis Morrill Hall, 1968

The Ohio State regional campuses were originally intended for students in their first two years of study towards a Bachelor’s degree. in 1978, the Ohio Board of Regents approved the Associate of Arts degree to mark the completion of two years of study. Marion awarded its first Associate of Arts degrees to a group of 14 students in 1981, and since has awarded degrees to hundreds more.

Fun fact: in 1994, Marion hosted Springfest, which was an outdoor activities festival that included roller-skating, Twister, sailing, a student versus staff volleyball game, sumo wrestling, human bowling, Velcro wall jumping, and a battle of the bands.

Written by Hannah Nelson.