Happy 159th birthday, Iowa State!

Originally named Iowa Agriculture College and Model Farm, the Iowa Legislature established the school on March 22, 1858, with Story County being selected as the official site in June 1859.

The first graduating class, consisting of only 24 men and two women, entered the university in Ames in 1869 and graduated in 1872. To put that into perspective, Iowa State saw more than 4,600 students graduate last spring. 

The school was officially renamed Iowa State University in 1959 and continues to be a leading university in agriculture and engineering.

It has grown exponentially, now reaching more than 36,000 students, with hundreds of buildings and world-class programs in fields such as agriculture, technology, science and art.

When asked about his favorite thing about Iowa State, Kyle Cravens, freshman in journalism, brought up the diversity on campus.

“It’s in the middle of Iowa, but you have people from Chicago, Minnesota, South Dakota, and all over,” Cravens said. “A lot of other schools have really similar demographics and the same type of people, but because it’s different, you have the opportunity to meet more people with different perspectives and experiences.”

Josephine Lawrence, senior in animal science, said her most beloved part of Iowa State is the beauty of the campus itself — specifically, being able to see of Iowa State’s landscape flourish in the springtime, especially the bright pink magnolia flowers that so brightly bud right outside of Lagomarcino.

“I love seeing Central Campus and seeing everyone in their hammocks and everyone playing frisbee,” Lawrence said. “Everyone is just out and about. It really does have a nice college feel.”