Exploring the campus series: East Campus

(CU Independent illustration/Kelly Kaoudis)

The University of Colorado at Boulder, home to over 30,000 students, spreads its vast population across three campuses, with East Campus being home mostly to the research and studies that CU funds.

With such buildings like STRC (Space Technology Research Center) and the Center for Astrophysics and Space Astronomy, East Campus currently serves as a space dedicated to research, with some family housing units, a daycare center and a few administrative buildings.

Gary Clow, an employee of Community Service Dynamic Modeling System, conducts his work in one of the security-coded research labs on East Campus. Although not an employee of CU, Clow said he works closely with students studying climate projections and believes research is a huge part of East Campus’ identity.

“Well, this is where all the research happens,” Clow said.

Aside from the work he does on East Campus, Clow has no relationship with the rest of CU, unlike Gayle Wright, who works in the Sleep and Chronobiology Laboratory. Although she does not work on main campus, the head of her lab, Dr. Kenneth P. Wright, teaches with the integrative physiology department.

Gayle Wright said she prefers spending time on East Campus because of the peace it offers.

“It is more quiet off campus which is nice for working on sleep studies,” Wright said.

Surprisingly, East Campus is not known to many, even with the many studies from sleep studies to studies on twins. Malinda Miller-Huey, assistant director of media relations and news services, said she is unsure of how many students would find themselves on East Campus, especially since there are currently no classes being held there.

“As far as students going to East Campus, the majority of this would be for student employees going to work, or students who are in family housing,” Miller-Huey said.

Many students are shocked to hear Boulder even has an east campus, like Samantha Sabins, a 19-year-old sophomore philosophy major.

“What? Where is that,” Sabins said.

A mysterious land of research and administration, East Campus is only known to a select few, but the information it produces is known to many more.

Contact CU Independent Staff Writer Rachel Hersch at [email protected].