Students protest war outside of the C.V. Hobson Union at Bemidji State, circa 1970

The student union was built in 1967. At street level, in the Upper Union, is the beautiful Beaux Arts Ballroom. This versatile space can serve as a lecture hall seating 600 or a banquet room for up to 450. The building was dedicated to C.V Hobson on May 1, 1972.

Dr. Claude Vivian “Mr. Conservation” Hobson was born in 1884 in Kansas. He was raised and educated on the prairies of Nebraska. Hobson completed his A.B. in science at Doane College and his Masters at the University of Nebraska. Dr. Hobson went on to complete his doctoral work at Iowa, Columbia and the University of North Dakota where he received his Doctorate in Education and Psychology.

He came to Bemidji State University in 1931 and started as a science supervisor in the Bemidji Teachers’ College Lab School for children. He began teaching college classes in 1938 as a professor of geography and conservation and retired in 1962. Dr. C.V. Hobson is credited with creating the School Forest concept and actively campaigned for the passage of the School Forest Law, which was passed in 1949. BSU acquired the forest in 1948 for academic and recreational use by the university and community.

In the middle level of the Upper Union, you’ll find the administrative offices of the Hobson Union staff and the home of our Student Activities, Clubs & Orgs and Student Senate. The campus coffee shop, ecoGrounds, is located in the Terrace Lounge.

In the Lower Union, you’ll find the BSU Bookstore, Einstein Bagels, the Lakeside Food Court, the Crying Wolf Room and many other conference spaces.