So, you want to be a Jayhawk? If you’re going to spend the next four (or more) years atop Mount Oread, there are a few things you should know. Yes, Wescoe Hall is ugly, but it wasn’t always meant to be that way. Unless you don’t plan on graduating, avoid walking through the Campanile at all costs. Potter Lake may be pretty to look at, but there’s a whole lot going on under the surface. And finally, what’s up with those rumors about Strong Hall being built backward? You’re about to find out.

Here are just a few of the legends, myths and little-known facts that make up Kansas University’s long and fascinating history. With nearly 150 years under its belt, this university has more than a few secrets to share.

Wescoe: the ‘stain’ on campus

Passing by Wescoe Hall, situated between the Gothic-style Budig Hall and the Romanesque Stauffer-Flint Hall, you may get the distinct feeling that one of these things is not like the other.

The boxy building has long been the butt of jokes for its “bunker-like appearance,” as one University Daily Kansan article described it in 2002.

Wescoe’s reputation as the campus eyesore may have contributed to a popular rumor that it was originally planned as a parking garage, said Mike Reid, director of the KU History project.

“I get asked that a lot,” Reid said.

Instead, university officials first conceived of Wescoe Hall as a 25-story skyscraper when plans for the building were unveiled in 1967.

According to the KU History article, “From Sky-soar to Eyesore,” the structure was meant to serve as a centralized building for KU’s humanities departments. With its proposed 149 rooms, 487 faculty offices, a 300-seat auditorium and 150 parking spaces, Wescoe would have been, at 280 feet, the tallest building in Kansas and the third-tallest educational building in the country.

Alas, by late 1969, officials scrapped the 25-story plan after running into funding issues. And, in the midst of mounting pressure to expand classroom space, new architects were hired to draft a more economical design.

The result — a 400-foot-long, four-story concrete building — was completed in 1974.

A Campanile curse

The World War II Memorial Carillon and Campanile on the Kansas University campus.

The World War II Memorial Carillon and Campanile were built to honor the 277 men and women from the university who had given their lives in World War II.

The 120-foot-tall tower, with its Kansas limestone walls and 53-bell carillon, was called “the finest musical instrument of its kind west of Chicago” by the Kansas City Star upon its completion in 1950.

KU’s Class of 1950 was the first group of students to pass through the bell tower on commencement day, an annual ritual that has endured for more than 60 years.

The tradition soon spawned an equally revered superstition that remains prevalent among students and alumni today.

It’s been said that any student who walks through the Campanile before commencement day is doomed not to graduate.

Obviously, there’s no data to support this claim. Still, the legend has done an effective job of inspiring — or terrifying — countless KU students over the years.

“I do think it was passed on to encourage students to do everything they needed to do to graduate,” Reid said.

Backward building

Another popular myth: Strong Hall — the stately administrative building along Jayhawk Boulevard — was built backward.

“People say they made a mistake and built it the wrong way,” Reid said. “That’s not true, either.”

The 1904 Kessler campus development plan included a site for a building to house administrative offices and arts and sciences classrooms. Architect H.P. McArdle envisioned a Renaissance-style structure with east and west wings as well as a central rotunda with a colonnade, according to the Historic Mount Oread Friends. The design shows the building facing Jayhawk Boulevard, just as the finished Strong Hall does today.

Part of the confusion surrounding Strong Hall, Reid said, stems from the 13 years it took to complete the building.

“Before the Spencer Research Library was built, it (Strong Hall) looked similar on both sides,” Reid said. “It was many years before they built the central and western portions.”

Its east wing was completed first, in 1911, followed by the west wing in 1918 and the center section in 1923.

Potter Lake’s murky past

In its early years Potter Lake was a popular swimming spot, though you won't see swimmers there nowadays.

During the warm spring months, it’s not uncommon to see a student or two sunbathing on the shores of KU’s Potter Lake. The chances of seeing anyone in the lake, however, are slim.

This wasn’t always the case.

Originally devised for fire safety, Potter Lake provided piped-in water supplemented with channeled drainage and natural springs and a never-used, motor-driven pump, according to the Historic Mount Oread Friends.

The lake quickly became a popular swimming spot after opening in 1911, and “people came from all over” to enjoy.

In those early years, James Naismith organized several “regatta-style races” on the lake and even built a seven-hole golf course around it, Reid said. A diving tour, springboard and pier were among its amenities. A KU basketball player was hired as the lake’s lifeguard at one point.

After a few short years, however, the fun came to an end. Seven drownings, as well as health problems caused by polluted water, caused officials to ban swimming in 1924, according to a KU History article titled “A Lake’s Progress.”

Potter Lake has remained closed to swimmers ever since, and should stay that way, in Reid’s opinion.

“It’s overloaded with aquatic plants and runoff from the campus, so you don’t want to swim in it,” he said.