Campus- South, Van Vleet Oval

South, Van Vleet Oval

The South Oval lies end-to-end with the North Oval, is anchored by the Bizzell Memorial Library and flanked with classroom buildings.  At the opposite end is the icon of the University of Oklahoma, The Seed Sower…a reminder of the importance of sowing the seeds of knowledge, to bear fruit in the future.  The face of The Seed Sower was rendered to resemble the first president of the University, David Ross Boyd, who took half of his first year’s salary and personally bought, planted, and even watered the very first trees on the then barren OU campus.  The South Oval is a student favorite for relaxing outside, and where OU’s famous, mass plantings of spring tulips and fall chrysanthemum create a dazzling display.

The South Oval is officially named Van Vleet Oval, for Albert Van Vleet, who came to OU in 1889 to organize the biology department and to be the first dean of the Graduate School.