STANFORD, Calif. – Bernard Muir describes the athletic department as the "front porch" of a university -- the manner in which most become aware of a school and first come to campus.
Muir, the Jaquish and Kenninger Director of Athletics, could be even more specific: Stanford's Home of Champions is the welcome mat to that front porch.
The Home of Champions, designed and built by a Nashville-based company called Advent, opened Sept. 23, 2017, on what originally was a basketball court in the heart of the Arrillaga Family Sports Center. In the year since, it has drawn 22,000 visitors and become a focus of recruits, alumni, and tour groups.
More than a museum or a hall of fame, the Home of Champions is a living, constantly-evolving space designed to celebrate more than a century of excellence and innovation in Stanford Athletics. From the Heisman Trophy to the Honda Cup, from the Wow Boys to the women of the 2016 Summer Olympics, it pays tribute to the contributions and successes from the many trailblazers, scholars, coaches and champions who have called Stanford home.
"It's been excellent," said David Shaw, Stanford's Bradford M. Freeman Director of Football. "There is a different feeling here than other places where football is so separated, not just from the university but from the other sports. We've had a lot of success in football, but we're also going to celebrate swimming and diving, volleyball, basketball, tennis. As this building shows, there's a togetherness here."
Facility manager Bob Wilmot walks through the space dozens of times a day and is so used to it, "you sometimes forget the impact." When he met a group of high school students from Palm Springs, he remembered.
"As we walked through the doors and they saw the championships in front of them and the staircase, you could hear an audible gasp," Wilmot said. "It's fun to see that reaction."
Near the entrance are displays of Stanford's four most recent national championship teams. Nine teams were showcased in the past year.
A fourth Hermann Trophy – to Andi Sullivan – was added to the women's soccer display of Stanford's national players of the year. And joining Katie Ledecky's 2017 Honda-Broderick Cup will be one awarded to women's swimming teammate Simone Manuel for athletic accomplishments, leadership, academic excellence and community service.
The Andrew Luck Reading Corner is another addition, placed under a large wall graphic of the former All-America quarterback and celebrating his love of reading. Near a custom table filled with books is a cushioned bench inviting visitors to sit and curl up with Luck favorites such as "Wonder" by R.J. Palacio, or "The Martian" by Andy Weir.
The appeal of the Home of Champions leads to the Lucile Packard Children's Hospital. A long corridor between the old and new buildings features displays of different kinds. Elizabeth Dunlevie, who chairs the Public Spaces Task Force as a member of the hospital's Board of Directors, was interested in introducing one involving Stanford Athletics.
"Like the artwork throughout the hospital, the goal of these cases is to educate and entertain our viewers, young and old alike," Dunlevie said. "As I toured the Home of Champions myself one afternoon, I realized it celebrates not just the victories, but the teams, and what the athletes contribute beyond their sport and the work ethic it takes to become an elite athlete. I immediately recognized the overlap between their mission and mine."
Dunlevie reached out to Wilmot and the two worked on concepts that would appeal to patients, families and the medical staff, with the objective of presenting information that captures interest and creates seeds for conversation.
They came up with "Stanford Athletics from Head to Toe." A display will feature the evolution of the helmet, with replicas of Stanford helmets from leather to the current era. Another illustrates advancements in shoes, with Chuck Taylors and half-inch track spikes.
The welcome mat is outstretched and imagination awaits inside. Even as the Home of Champions changes and evolves, this foundation never will:
"It inspires young student-athletes who want to be future stars and future leaders here at Stanford," said Paul Ratcliffe, the Knowles Family Director of Women's Soccer. "I think that's fantastic."