Traditions & History
Landmarks
Jim Henson and Kermit Statue
A popular place to snap photos is this bronze statue in a memorial garden outside Stamp Student Union capturing a whimsical conversation between pioneering puppeteer Jim Henson ’60 and his most famous character, Kermit the Frog. Henson was known around the world for his creation of the Muppets and his television work on “Sesame Street” and “The Muppet Show.” The statue by sculptor Jay Hall Carpenter was installed in 2003 with funds from the UMD classes of 1994, 1998 and 1999.
The M
The iconic floral M originally located in the traffic circle at the intersection of Campus and Regents drives was created in 1976 to commemorate the nation’s bicentennial, and has since become the premier spot for graduation photos. The M shifted across the street to a new home in front of the Mitchell Building in 2020 to make way for the light-rail Purple Line. The M is replanted twice a year, with pansies in the fall and begonias in the summer.
McKeldin Mall
The 16.28-acre area from Main Administration Building to McKeldin Library is one of the largest academic malls in the country and a popular hangout for students on sunny days. Its configuration of sidewalks is based on the paths students cut through the grass as they walked to the buildings lining the mall. The 250-foot-long fountain on the eastern end of the mall honors members of the campus chapter of the Omicron Delta Kappa honor society. It is engraved with quotes from Franklin Delano Roosevelt and Martin Luther King Jr., along with a list of ODK fraternity members from the university.
The Sundial, located in the center of McKeldin Mall, was a gift from the Class of 1965, the Department of Physics and Astronomy, and friends of Professor Uco Van Wijk, who died in 1966. It was renovated with donations from the Class of 1990.
Point of Failure
A brick and concrete circle nearly 40 feet across in the pavement between Shoemaker and LeFrak halls designates the center of campus activity at the time of the Great Fire of 1912. It leveled the two largest campus buildings, as explained in historical plaques placed near the site on the fire’s 75th anniversary. With lines radiating in the direction of each of the buildings that existed at the time of the fire, the circle looks like a carelessly sliced pie. It’s probably not campus history that keeps the circle in the minds of current students, however. Legend has it students who step on the center of the circle where the lines intersect won’t graduate in four years.
Testudo
The bronze likeness of a diamondback turtle overlooking the mall in front of McKeldin Library has a well-burnished nose for a reason—rubbing it for good luck is our campus’s most well-known tradition. The statue was dedicated in 1933, but it was only decades later that this custom began. In the early 1990s, Maryland students augmented the custom to begin making offerings to Testudo at finals time—food, drinks, heartfelt poems and even pieces of furniture in hopes of a good grade. In addition to the primary Testudo statue at the heart of campus, six other bronze replicas can be found around campus at the Stamp Student Union, Xfinity Center, the Samuel Riggs IV Alumni Center, Van Munching Hall and two at SECU Stadium.