What it is
Open Campus Day began in 1993 as the centennial open house and became an annual event when nobody could find a good reason to stop. It isn’t an admissions event; that is Ironclad Preview Days. Nobody will ask what year you graduate. The point is to let Porter Falls see what happens inside the buildings it drives past every day: the high bay in Founders Hall, the simulation hospital, the farm and the archives.
About 6,100 people came in April 2026. Most were local families, but a surprising number were retirees who had never been inside Founders Hall since they took shop there in 1961.
Schedule for Saturday, April 24, 2027
| Time | What | Where |
|---|---|---|
| 8:30–10:30 a.m. | Pancake breakfast ($6 adults, $3 kids; proceeds to the campus food pantry) | Founders Commons (The Forge) |
| 10:00 a.m. | Welcome from Chancellor Elaine Vandehey and the Porter Falls Community Band | Main quad |
| 10:00 a.m.–4:00 p.m. | High bay open: senior-design robots, the concrete-canoe team, the load-test frame | Founders Hall high bay |
| 10:00 a.m.–4:00 p.m. | Maker demonstrations: laser cutting, 3D printing, a small CNC mill | Forge Innovation Hub, Founders Hall 140–150 |
| 11:00 a.m., 1:00, 3:00 p.m. | Mini foundry pour: pewter coasters, kids pour with a gloved helper | Founders Hall foundry yard |
| 10:30 a.m.–2:30 p.m. | Simulation hospital tours every 30 minutes; meet the manikins | Health Sciences Center |
| 11:00 a.m.–noon | Speakers Bureau lightning talks: six faculty, eight minutes each | Heritage Auditorium |
| 10:00 a.m.–3:00 p.m. | Open barn, greenhouse tours, tomato-seedling giveaway (while 1,200 last) | University Farm |
| Noon–3:00 p.m. | Kids’ science zone run by the STEM Saturdays crew | Jarvis Technology Center, first floor |
| 1:00–3:00 p.m. | Filtered solar viewing (weather permitting) | Halvorsen Observatory |
| 1:00 p.m. | Porter Open track & field meet; spectators free | Millwright Stadium |
| 2:00–4:00 p.m. | University archives open: the 1893 charter, old yearbooks, the 1994 rename file | Halvorsen Library, Level 4 |
| 2:00–4:00 p.m. | Spring exhibition preview and studio walk-throughs | Furlong Gallery, Applied Arts Building |
The full map with room numbers is posted in March. The week after Open Campus Day brings the Senior Design Expo (April 29), which is also open to the public, and the Earth Day campus cleanup comes just before it.
Getting here and getting around
- Parking is free in every lot, including the Founders Ramp, from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. Accessible spaces are in the usual places; see accessible parking.
- The Porter Loop runs an extended Saturday route every 12 minutes, including the Depot Plaza and a temporary University Farm stop. Track it on the shuttle tracker.
- Accessible golf-cart shuttles run between the Welcome Center, Founders Union and the Health Sciences Center. Wave one down or ask at an info tent.
- Info tents are at the Welcome Center and Founders Union. Lost children go to the Campus Safety tent on the main quad, and Campus Safety finds parents faster than you would expect.
- Food: Founders Union food hall is open 10 a.m.–3 p.m., and the Depot District is a 12-minute walk.
Volunteers and groups
The day needs about 220 volunteers: guides, greeters, parking-lot wavers and pancake flippers. Community members are welcome, and shifts are two hours. Sign up through Volunteer on campus by April 2. Groups of 15 or more, such as scout troops, senior centers or school classes, can get a guided route and a reserved slot for the foundry pour. Email the office by April 9.
The community hub lists what stays open the other 364 days of the year.
Fictional information
UW–Porter Falls is a work of parody. Open Campus Day, its schedule, its pancakes and its attendance figures are invented. No real campus opens its doors on April 24 because of this page.