After the official founding of the Technische Hogeschool Twente (THT - Technical College Twente, the predecessor of University of Twente) in 1961, the building of the campus started. The former country estate of Drienerlo was transformed into the proving ground for a daring experiment: a technical college based on the American residential system – which is to say, with a campus that combined living, studying, working ... and partying.
To realise this campus idea, not just buildings with an educational purpose were build, but also student housing. As Minister of Education, Jo Cals had been and was closely involved with the founding and development of the THT campus. Therefore, on 10 July 1963, he had the honour to lay the first brick of what was to become the first series of student houses on the campus. Later, a street on the campus was named after him: Calslaan. However, this is not the sole presence of the former Minister on our campus. All visitors of the Spiegel building wonder about the mysterious bust welcoming the guests. And guess who this is...
