Mulford Q. Sibley, a popular-yet-controversial political science professor who taught at the U from 1948 to 1982, once likened the plaza north of the Social Sciences Building to a prison yard—a sterile concrete-and-brick space without a tree in sight. He challenged the U’s administration to turn the space on the west bank of the Twin Cities campus into the green, inviting place it is today. 

Last year, the Board of Regents named the space the Mulford Q. Sibley Grove. A crowdfunding campaign honoring the 30th anniversary of Sibley’s death raised money for signage, which will be unveiled in the spring.