Campus Facilities

At Occidental, we provide most of the basic amenities that help to keep your life in balance - practically, physically and spiritually. With most services available on campus, you can spend more of your free time doing what you want to do rather than thinking about where you have to go to do it.

Bookstore

The Occidental College Bookstore is known for its unique stock in fiction, history, philosophy, poetry, politics, and science, as well as textbooks, office and art supplies, Oxy wear, and more than 100 magazine titles. Owned and operated by the College, the bookstore is conveniently located on the ground floor of the Johnson Student Center.

Chapel

Since 1964, the Margaret Brown Herrick Memorial Chapel has been an ecumenical center serving people of many faiths through worship, preaching, prayer, fellowship, counseling, weddings, and musical and theater performances. Its presence on the Quad symbolizes the College's roots in the Christian tradition, and its founding in 1887 by Presbyterian ministers and laypeople.

Green Bean Coffee Lounge

Located in Johnson Student Center, the new student-operated Green Bean has quickly become a major student hangout. The lounge offers baked goods from Porto's Bakery, 100% fair trade and carbon-free coffee from Grounds for Change, and other refreshments from Harlambos, PepsiCo, and Nature's Best. It is open seven days a week.

Fitness Center

Renovated in 2004 and equipped with free weights and exercise machines, the 2,500-square-foot Culley Fitness Center is open seven days a week. The center is in the Culley Building, adjacent to Rush Gymnasium.

Hangouts

At lunch, the Student Quad between the Johnson Student Center and Samuelson Pavilion (aka the Cooler) is crowded year-round. The Green Bean Coffee Lounge in JSC; the outdoor tables in front of the Bookstore and outside the Cooler; benches in the Academic Quad on sunny days; and Clapp Library also are popular hangouts.

Health and Counseling Center

The medical and nurse practitioner staff of the Emmons Center, located in the center of campus, provide a wide range of medical and counseling services, including outpatient diagnosis and treatment of minor illnesses and injuries, clinical laboratory services, individual and group counseling, and a 24-hour psychiatric emergency line.

Intercultural Center

The Intercultural Community Center collaborates with student clubs and organizations, academic departments, residence halls, and members of the surrounding community to sponsor programs that examine and celebrate identity, pluralism, and democracy, including the annual “Taste of Oxy” program and Valuing Diversity Week.

Laundry

Laundry facilities equipped with card-swipe washers and dryers, as well as sinks and ironing boards, are available in each residence hall.

Library

The Mary Norton Clapp Library includes classrooms, group study and video viewing rooms and many of the campus' 350 public computers. The library has more than 900,000 books, videos, microforms and subscriptions to more than 900 journals and newspapers. Databases on the library website provide access to thousands of online publications.

Parking

Parking is free at Occidental; students need only register their cars with Campus Safety to obtain a permit. First-year students are allowed to have cars. About two-thirds of students have a car on campus.

Pool

Taylor Pool, a heated, open-air facility in the Field Building, is open five days a week.

Postal Center

Students pick up and drop off their mail (including packages) at the Postal Center next to the Bookstore in the Johnson Student Center. Services offered include FedEx, DHL and UPS.

Study Areas

While Clapp Library is the most popular place to study, particularly during midterms and finals, other favored spots include the second-floor lounge and balcony in the Hameetman Science Center; the benches under the oak trees in the Quad; and the Cooler.