The UA mall represents a place for college kids to come and hang out, for people to table and bring attention to their respective organization or beliefs. But the UA mall also represents a place of tradition.

A very long strip of grass starting from behind Old Main all the way to Campbell, that would be the UA mall. The mall itself, lays behind Old Main, next to the Student Union and also, way far down, next to the athletic centers. The mall centers itself in the middle of all the student life. The mall allows students to express themselves, and enjoy themselves by being a safe place. The mall sits in the heart of the campus; everyone knows about it. When one goes on a campus tour,they go to the mall, when one wants lunch, or dinner, they go to the mall, they even go just to get to class! The community uses the mall as well, and because of this thousands of people are there everyday. The mall lends itself for a home to everyone who visits or passes.

On certain days one will see exhibits, people and groups tabling, kids playing Frisbee or football, some high school seniors touring UA and some days cheerleaders practicing. On special days you will see things like memorials on the stage, bands playing, or people doing skits on the stage. This place is a center for everything that happens or takes place. The heartbeat of the campus comes from the University of Arizona’s mall, it gives the campus the life and pride that we all know and love. Pretty much every student has to pass through the mall at some point each week, and when they do, they become part of that beat, that life, that Wildcat pride.


The mall is a path that connects all of the school together, physically and emotionally, pulling from our past, present and future.

Free Speech

College has many things that come off as "traditional" for a college setting. College is supposed to be a melting pot of all ideologies and backgrounds. This means that people want to come to a safe, intellectual place that they can share their ideas with others and have discussion on it. This brings us to the idea of free speech. College are know for their "traditional" scene of rallies, and huge events of free speech, because we see in movies how characters attend huge events in favor of some standing (politically, religiously, etc.). In the picture shown, a massive stand and billboard is shown for anti-abortion. This group comes to campus often, in a much smaller way. This time they wanted to use their free speech and share their opinions in a bigger scene to attract more people. The use of giant billboards with very graphic pictures was able to draw the attention to passer-byers. The more people who came to the tables, the more people the anti-abortionists could get their message to. This idea of free speech truly is something that college are known for. People want to express themselves and learn about many more ideologies and outlooks on controversial topics.  The UA mall is the perfect place for the showing of free speech, in such a perfect open area where many people pass by on a regular basis. The "tradition" of free speech is often seen on the UA mall and it shows how we, as The University of Arizona, keep our traditions alive, be it a basic tradition of every college, or one of our own.

Old Main

If one wants to talk about tradition, talk about Old Main. Old Main was one of the first buildings on campus and has stuck around to stay in use still to this day. Old Main is a symbol of our long standing traditions, pride, and of our dedication to community. Old Main stand at the front of out school, right behind the Main Gate, with its wonderful fountain. Behind Old Main is the rest of our campus, and all the very important buildings that came after. All of the buildings directly behind Old Main, are lined up on the UA Mall till Campbell. The picture I  have here shows how the mall is used as a path, with years of tradition lining it, all leading up to the most important building we have. Along the path of "tradition" we have many important buildings: the sport center, Bear Down Gym, Koffler, the Student Union, the Administration Building, etc. The mall is "the path of tradition". It takes years of memories, traditions and pride, lines everything up on the sides, and creates a path that the community, past, present, and even future students can walk down, to relive, and create new memories and traditions. This picture show how the mall ends, right where Old Main begins, allowing the connection from to present to be shown to all, and this sense of pride from past to present to future, gives many Wildcats hope as they pass through the mall.

The Wildcat Family

The Wildcat is the University of Arizona’s mascot. Wilbur and Wilma Wildcat are seen everywhere at sports games, and sometimes if one is lucky, one may see Wilbur at the food court in the Student Union. Either way, these Wildcats represent all of the traditions and school spirit of the U of A. This statue is placed right on the UA mall near the busiest part, next to the Student Union and down from Old Main. This statue is placed on the mall for a specific purpose, to remind all that come to the mall of our pride and traditions here at the University if Arizona. Though many people probably over look it, the statue still stands on the mall, to remind us all subconsciously of our pride and traditions. Pride and tradition are not something that need be brought up every moment of the day, these things  should be instilled in the heart and soul of every student.  The statue is a reminder for those who forgot or those who may need a simple reminder. Wilbur and Wilma also stand on the mall as a symbol to those visiting the school what we as Wildcats represent, and that we have pride and traditions that we want to share with everyone. We want to show our pride of being Wildcats, and since we have been Wildcats through past, present and will be Wildcats in the future, the UA Mall, where all three times come together shows off what pride we have.

Conclusion

The University of Arizona is a home to tens of thousands of students. It is also home to the community, bringing pride and joy to those in Tucson. We work hard and play hard everyday. As a Wildcat we bring excellence to everything we do, and we deserve something to show that off.  This is where we can show off our talent and excellence. There is no pride greater than standing or walking down the mall. When the sun is shining, like a perfect Tucson day, when the grass is green, or even yellow during the winter, standing on the mall one can feel the pride and tradition that comes from the mall. We become part of all our history when we stand on the mall.

 Looking west to Old Main, north to the Student Union, south towards Koffler, or the Wildcat building as I call it, or east towards the rest of the mall and towards the sports center, where our men and woman fight to defend our home and the mountains surrounding Tucson, one can feel and sense the Wildcat feeling in the air. It is the center of every student’s life. We walk through on our way to class, we hold activities and events, we table, we meet our friends, we just hang out, but anyway, we are there EVERYDAY, no matter what. This is our home, our stage, the mall is the center of our lives, the center of our home, and we are the Wildcats. 

UA

All over campus one can see the 'A' symbol that represents the university. Here in front of the original building that started our school is the mall stage, with 'UA' written on it. This floor tiling on the stage show how everywhere someone walks, they are reminded of the feelings we as a school have. We respect the school, we love our school and want to keep our traditions alive. The placement of this 'UA' is right in front of Old Main, so we can keep connected to our roots. We will have many traditions that we create, but some we will never lose, one is the pride we have for the University of Arizona. Each day I can hear students saying "Bear Down", a motto that has been with our school for a long time. This pride, is shown everywhere around school and we our proud of it. 'UA' reminds us that we are more than Arizona, we are THE university of it.  The mall shows us the path of our future and where we have been, and where we are going, is into great achievements as a school, just like those we have come from in the past. This stage is a placard for that remembrance of traditions to come, and those we already have, and it is placed where our pride is most radiated.