The Globe at Westfield State University

By Jayson Galoski

On a bright and sunny July afternoon, Jason Phillips, a senior at Westfield State, was standing in the middle of the WSU’s campus with his fellow 2020 Urban Education Summer Bridge Program classmates, when he was brought ‘back in time.’ Phillips and his peers were lining up in front of the globe to take a cohort picture. Phillips recalls it took some time to arrange everyone, so the photo looked nice.

As the camera flashed, it brought memories back to Jason of how he first started his journey at Westfield State University. As Phillips stood in front of the globe with everyone, the air was filled with joy. He laughed with his friends, and there was nothing but relaxation from the stress of school work that needed to get done.

Phillips had buzzed hair while he wore a yellow t-shirt, with shorts. He tried his best to smile as the sun was beaming down on the group, but a squint was all he could manage.

Take after take, the photo came better than they could have dreamed. Students were lined up in five rows, all wearing the same matching yellow t-shirt. No one student was different, as they unified for a time of joy and remembrance. The globe peaked out of the back of the photo in the center of the students.

When you walk around campus, there is no way that you can miss arguably the most iconic symbol of the university. Standing at N 42° 07.945 W 072° 47.708, the globe is tilted at a near 23° angle from vertical. It measures at 20” in diameter and made out of aluminum. The globe is anchored to a large flat concrete slab in order to keep durability. It’s surrounded by a black gate, and within that gate lays a landscape of mulch, moss, and plants.

It’s a WSU tradition to take photos at the globe. Students utilize the monument as a background to take spirited photos with their friends in their cap and gown before graduation.

The globe brings great unity to the campus, even if it isn’t thought of that way directly. As little as students know about the history of the globe, it is the focal point of the university that symbolizes becoming and sustaining an image of a more global institution.

When the Patriots won the SuperBowl back in 2016, the original globe was struck by a disaster; a pack of college students. The globe was torn down during the celebration of students jumping and dangling on it.

The original globe was not fit to handle the outside conditions, and was meant to be decoration for the university. It was 20” in diameter and made out of hollow armillary steel which had landmasses made of copper with mountain ranges that were roughly outlined in green.

Originally located in the lobby of the Stanley Home Products international headquarters, who owned the Horace Mann Center, the globe was and remains unique because of its absence of Australia. Australia continues to stay missing because each country present on the globe hosts a Stanley Home Products company headquarters. The company is very global and made their presence known around the world.

In 1993, the Fortune 500 company Stanhome Inc. donated the globe to the University, which was moved to the Ely campus center. WSU then developed a new office of International Education in order to partner with other institutions around the world to expand international learning opportunities.

Upon the renovation of Ely, the globe was moved to the center of the green in 2008, where the President of the university at the time, Evan S. Dobelle had a vision to make WSU a more global institution. Since then, the globe has remained on the green, and continues to bring global acceptance to students, and anyone who wants to be part of the community.

Phillips sincerely believes that the globe shows that everyone is welcome to be a part of the WSU family, not only Massachusetts residents, but everyone around the world.

Since the globe remains an important symbol of the university, and was destroyed, there was an immediate demand to replace it. In the meantime, Cam Swan, the Trustees Representative for the Student Government Association, remembers that “someone put a small desk sized globe out on the stand at one point as a joke.”

Justin Connolly, the Student Government President at the time took time to raise over $12,000 in order to buy a new globe. The effort was made by a large portion of the campus community, but not everyone supported it. Swan recalls, “there was a portion, albeit a small portion, of the campus community who did not want another globe, and felt that the funds could be put towards something with a more practical application”.

Eventually, the university found a company that could make a new globe that met their budget requirements. Giant Globes Inc., out of Chicago, made a brand new globe that was much more capable of handling the outside elements of New England.

Throughout the day, students walk to and from class past the globe. In the afternoon you can see every detail of the globe and its interaction with the WSU community. If you’re a night owl, like most college students, you can see the silence that lays upon the globe after dark. Lights are projected toward the globe which reflect off the metallic steel bringing out its essence.