Throngs of students shuttle by each day, often unaware of the history nearby.
Allison Sparks, event manager at the IMU , said Beck Chapel was constructed in 1956 and draws mostly wedding ceremonies.
If a couple so desires, they can call to be married on any Saturday. Sparks said the chapel can support up to three weddings in a day, and in the months of May through July, each Saturday is typically fully booked.
The chapel is also home to some fraternity and sorority initiation rituals, as well as study and prayer for all faiths. The building, made of Indiana limestone, is a non-denominational haven for students practicing any religion.
In 1956, Frank and Daisy Beck presented the chapel as a gift to IU, their alma mater.
With a slate roof and only 16 golden oak pews, the chapel can only have 65 people inside at a time.
“I think it’s a little hidden gem on campus,” Sparks said. “We get a lot of alumni to come back. It’s special to them.”
Just below the small chapel is Dunn Cemetery, a small graveyard filled with worn grass and slowly eroding stones.
“Some people call it ‘God’s Little Acre,’” said Thom Simmons, associate executive director of the IMU. “It’s about an acre in size.”
Unlike the chapel, the history of Dunn Cemetery is obscure and convoluted, evoking more legend than fact.
What is known is the cemetery was named after the Dunn family, which previously owned a farm across the land on which most of the campus now stands. When the University sought to buy the farm, the Dunn family agreed to sell it to the school on one condition: the cemetery would remain untouched.
“My understanding is it was deeded separately, and so that acre is deeded as the Dunn ?Cemetery,” Simmons said.
The first burial was conducted in 1814, and Dunn Cemetery is still active, though only relatives and spouses of the Dunn family are to be buried there.
The histories of Beck Chapel and Dunn Cemetery are intertwined with that of the University, so it only fits that they sit in the heart of campus.
