Here We are at Oakland University

Where are we?

While the campus sits partly in Rochester Hills and partly in Auburn Hills, its address is officially Rochester — a town that's technically 5 miles away.

According to a historical timeline of university events, when Matilda Wilson donated the land and the money for the university in the 1950s, she "demanded" that the address be Rochester — and asked the U.S. Postmaster to make sure it could be so.

As the story goes, she prevailed — after reminding the postmaster (Arthur Summerfield) that she had been a generous contributor to his Republican administration.

What are they building?

That large, colorful work in progress on the corner of Squirrel and University roads is the university's future Human Health Building. It's a $62 million project set to be finished in 2012. It will be the home of OU’s School of Nursing and School of Health Sciences.

Here's a pre-primary connection

Before coming to OU, President Gary Russi lived and worked in another presidential campaign hotbed: Iowa. Russi was vice president for research and strategic planning at Drake University in Des Moines, where he worked in various roles for 20 years.

Is the school mascot a deer?

No. It's a Golden Grizzly (bear). But that was a good guess, considering all of the deer you are likely to see roaming the outskirts of campus. The state Department of Natural Resources estimates the deer population of Oakland County to be 8,000-13,000.

A face like Newt?

More than 200 university students were selected as volunteers for the event to be ushers, parking attendants, production assistants — even stand-ins for the candidates themselves.

The Oakland Post, the campus newspaper, interviewed Kevin Stephens, a secondary education student who will be a stand-in for Newt Gingrich.

“People say I have an average face that looks like everyone,” Stephens told the newspaper.

For more on Oakland University, visit www.Oakland.edu