When this boulder was unearthed during excavation for the Social Sciences Building at the University of Calgary in 1968, the administration decided that it would be easiest to simply move "The Rock" to a section of the lawn east of MacEwan Hall.
Throughout the years "The Rock" has been the subject of much abuse. It has been tarred and feathered, set on fire, stolen by engineering students from the rival institution The University of Alberta in Edmonton. After it was recovered it was set in concrete to discourage any further attempts at theft. Once some unknown persons attempted to blow up "The Rock" with dynamite. The resulting blast broke off a fair sized chunk of the boulder and blew out the windows in some of the surrounding buildings.
During the school year "The Rock" is used as a meeting place and message board, being painted on more than a weekly basis. Some estimate that the layers of paint are over a foot and a half thick.
In 2000, to make way for expansion of MacEwan Hall, "The Rock" was moved to a section of lawn near a large stainless steel sculpture which remains untitled but is commonly referred to as the Prairie Chicken.
In addition to being a message board for most of the student organizations on campus, it has also been the focus of a unique fundraiser for the past 13 years. The "Race Around the Rock" is put on by the fraternity of Phi Gamma Delta, and basically what happens is we get these scooters and race around it for 24 hours, all while pestering anyone passing by for money.
On average it's managed to raise about $1500-$2000 for whatever chairity we're benefitting that year. For the past couple of years it's been the Crohn's and Colitis Foundation of Canada, but this year it shall be in support of the Calgary Emergency Women's Shelter.