Alumni Plaza with Spirit the Bobcat
Completed in October of 2009, Alumni Plaza was organized and funded by the Alumni Association to create a place to instill pride and provide a focal point for spirit on campus.
The Bobcat was selected as MSU’s mascot in 1916 for its cunning intelligence, athletic prowess and independent spirit.
These attributes are elegantly reflected in Spirit, the plaza’s centerpiece, a bronze sculpture named for Montana State’s first bobcat.
The plaza has been designed to include seating, decorative pavers, landscaping featuring native Montana flora, and massive boulders that provide a natural setting for the bronze.
The sculpture was created by artist and storyteller Bob Stayton (1951 Alumnus) and the bronze casting provided by Jack Muir (1970 Alumnus).
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Montana State University
University of Montana
On February 16, 1893, the Agricultural College of the State of Montana was founded as the state's land-grant college. Renamed The Montana College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts, the institution was popularly known as Montana Agricultural College, or MAC.
By the 1920s, the institution's preferred name was Montana State College and so it remained until July 1, 1965, when, in recognition of the enormous advances in the College's commitment to scientific and humanistic research, the thirty-ninth legislative assembly of the state of Montana changed MSC's name to Montana State University.
Today, Montana State University boasts a national and international reputation for its excellence in education as well as research. It is routinely listed as a top university in terms of degree quality, value, and location, and ranks among the nation's leaders in its number of Goldwater Scholarship recipients. It is an institution committed to serving Montana and beyond by positioning today's students for meaningful lives in the globalizing economy of the 21st century.
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Montana State University
It is with sadness that renown sculptor Bob Stayton passed away May 18, 2010 at the age of 81 years. Mr. Stayton was from Big Fork, Montana, and is known as a mater craftsman and sculptor and his artistic works of art are displayed throughout Montana and several other states.