Memorial Union

One of the stranger aspects of war is that most of the wisdom gleaned from any conflict throughout history is applicable to any other, no matter the place or time. Take the words of John Maxwell Edwards, inscribed on the Kohima Memorial, "When you go home, tell them of us and say, for their tomorrow, we gave out today." It's easy to imagine the men of Mizzou named on the walls of the Memorial Student Union saying something similar.

At first glance the Memorial Union looks like a castle in the middle of the MU campus. With its historic arch and majestic spires, there is no question that the Union is a product of another age. Completed in the 1920's and dedicated to the 117 students and alumni of the University of Missouri - Columbia that died in World War One, Memorial Student Union is a monolithic landmark possessed of an architectural beauty unmatched by any other building on campus. From the gruesome gargoyles that grin out from the four spires at the top of the clock tower to the graceful Gothic archways found almost everywhere on the structure to the small chapel attached to the north wing, Memorial Union lays claim to both grand visual displays and the inspiration of the sort of deep thoughts characteristic of a university. Interestingly, the clock and chimes of the Memorial Tower weren't added until a decade after the tower's completion. The clockworks in the tower are based on those of Big Ben in London, although BB is certainly not decorated with the raw style of the Union.

However, the purpose of the Union is not solely to cause students to meditate on the fragile nature of their lives; it has also been put to more than a few practical applications over its tenure on the Mizzou campus. A few items on the long list of things residing within the Memorial are meeting rooms that are almost corporate in their size and scope, restaurants that serve food the equal of any dining hall, lounges filled with the most comfortable leather furniture anywhere on campus, and, naturally, the omnipresent "technology center". The actual definition of the latter is the subject of no little academic debate, but it is certain the the Memorial, and likely many of the students, would cease to function without it.

In very few cases within academia are beauty and purpose meshed so successfully as they are in the Memorial Student Union. Though constructed as a reminder of the pain and sacrifice of military men, the Union has been admirably applied to the noble goal of educating and serving new generations.