Tucson Arizona

University of Arizona joins the Gourmet Guide

Posted on Tue, 01/14/2014 - 14:13

If you're visiting the Tucson campus of the University of Arizona, we've got recommendations for where to find Spanish tapas, a gastropub with artisanal cheeses and salume and "environmentally sound" seafood at an on-campus bistro where you can also order a triple decker grilled cheese and tomato. We've also got best bets for campus staples like pizza, decadent pastries, and the local food with its own fan base -- Eegees, a drink of "brain freezing fruit goodness." Oh, and this is Tucson, so Mexican American food gets a section of its own with three of the best places to find chimichangas, tamale pie and a Sonoran style hot dog. Thank you to University of Arizona's dean of undergraduate admissions Kasey Urquidez and her staffers Rafael Meza and Mary Venezia. Check their recommendations out here.

Kasey Urquidez, University of Arizona

Posted on Tue, 11/05/2013 - 10:23

In its earliest days, University of Arizona had a bit of a Wild West aura. Students rode their horses to school, hitching them outside Old Main, the first building on campus. And a year after the first undergraduates arrived, the dean of students asked the Board of Regents to prohibit the use of firearms on campus.

In fact, Arizona was still a territory when the University of Arizona broke ground in 1885 on 40 acres of land with a $25,000 grant from the legislature. The first students arrived in 1891 – 32 strong – along with six teachers. But only six were admitted to the freshmen class. The remaining 26 went to a specially established prep school since there were no high schools in the territory. Seventeen years later, the university students finally outnumbered those in the prep classes and more than 20 years later -- in 1912 -- Arizona became a state.