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By Ely Sheinfeld
As sports fans enter Macalester Stadium, they might look up and see the marvel that fills the majority of the facade above the main entrance’s doors: a giant shield sporting the Macalester tartan constructed through a mosaic of different colors and shades of polished granite.
The shield measures 12 x 14 feet and weighs over three tons. In order to match colors as closely as possible to the Mac tartan, the granite comprising the mosaic came from quarries located in six different states: Minnesota, North Dakota, New York, Vermont, North Carolina, and Georgia. And, but for the generosity of those involved in the building of the stadium, it almost never came into being.
Archival documents show that the stadium’s original design included a granite Macalester shield above the front entrance; however, due to costs, this feature was left out of the signed construction contract. Nearing the completion of construction, the architects and the granite supplier reached out to President Harvey Rice with an offer: they would design and create the shield at their own cost and gift it to Mac. They also offered to raise the funds to cover the cost of attaching the shield onto the stadium. Macalester happily welcomed this gift, and the donors were honored guests at the dedication of the new stadium, with its tartan shield, on October 31, 1964.
Ely Sheinfeld, College Archivist
March 18 2025
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