The Grinnell community has no borders. Everything from the curriculum to the day-to-day
conversation in the residence halls is open-ended in context and consideration.
For those who want to add geographic dimension to that intellectual latitude, the cities of
Des Moines and Iowa City are just an hour away, and one can be in Chicago,
Minneapolis or Kansas City in less than five hours.
But for most students, the 120-acre campus and the town of Grinnell provide more than enough
opportunities for exploration and entertainment.
During your campus visit, stop by the Bookstore to pick up your very own
Where the Hell is Grinnell? Who the Hell cares? t-shirt.
If you can't make it to campus, you can also buy them online. We're not making this up!
Grinnell sits in the middle of a vast and dynamic environment known as prairie. Tall grasses, flowering plants, deep root systems, soil, and fire comprise the ecosystem. The complex root system means that two-thirds of the prairie lives below ground, and that fire will destroy only the dead matter above ground. This ecosystem is responsible for creating the rich Iowa soil that agriculturalists have enjoyed for generations.
The College engages with the surrounding prairie through the Center for Prairie Studies, which organizes related events, courses, and tours of local prairie preserves and farms. The Conard Environmental Research Area offers state-of-the-art facilities for biological study of the prairie. In addition to learning opportunities, Grinnell students experience the bounty of the prairie in the commitment of Grinnell Dining to local foods, supplied by nearby Iowa farms.
Bill Bryson
Johnny Carson
George Washington Carver
Chief Black Hawk
William “Buffalo Bill” Cody
John Deere
Michael Emerson
Simon Estes
William Frawley
Kirk Hinrich
Herbert Hoover
Ashton Kutcher
Ann Landers
Cloris Leachman
Aldo Leopold
Ron Livingston
Billy Sunday
Abigail “Dear Abby” Van Buren
John Wayne
Andy Williams
Grant Wood
Elijah Wood