College students have a culture all their own.
Traditions are an important characteristic of a culture, and the University is rich in traditions and legends. Just as the students who attend this University have changed, so have the traditions and stories that go along with its culture. It was the educational and spiritual center of the school, according to Centennial History of the Northeast Missouri State Teachers College, Kirksville, Missouri by Walter H. Ryle. The building stood where the Sunken Garden is now located. When the original Baldwin Hall was built in 1873, an open area in the center of campus, known today as the Quadrangle, supplied the clay to make the bricks used in the building's construction.