B B Hindu Academy, a local school, housed the library, teachers' lounge and the medical center.

The university started out with 20 professors, 161 students (of which 5 were female) and six departments — Bengali, English, History, Law, Philosophy and Economics.

[15] The post-independence years saw the university grow steadily in student enrolment and the size of the academic staff.

However, the 1980s were turbulent for the university, as the students agitated with other institutions of the country against the military rule of Hossain Muhammad Ershad.

Since the early 1990s, the university has seen relative calm and a lowering of session backlogs, though active student politics remains a contentious issue.

The university's main campus is in Motihar, on the eastern side of the city of Rajshahi and a mile from the Bangladeshi coast of the river Padma.

The main gate is used to create an architectural optical illusion while entering or exiting the campus through it as it seemed to the visitor that the more he tries to go nearer the more the Administrative Building goes far away.

It is a small park providing a very good environment and a place for spending leisure for the students and residents of the campus.

Rajshahi University Botanical Garden is also a park inside the campus home to some very rare species of trees and plants.

One is behind the Shaheed Shamsuzzoha Hall popularly known as the Shorobor and another is behind the female hostels known as a part of the Jungle Genome Project.

Then it keeps going past the mango plantations, Kazla Pond and VC's residence and reaches Shamsuzzoha Square.

A mural near the Golden Jubilee Tower is a masterpiece artifact made of steel depicting the struggle of men and women.

[17] Established in 1910 by Ramaprasad Chanda, the museum became a part of the university in the 1960s when a financial crisis threatened its existence.

Under the university, the museum has thrived, adding a folklore gallery to its impressive collection from ancient and medieval Bengal.

Zuberi House is the home of Rajshahi University Club and it is the center of the political activities of the teachers and fellows.

It provides gymnasium facilities for the teachers and it has a well-maintained lone tennis court Rajshahi University Stadium seats 30,000.

To the east inside the main gate is the colonial era Motihar Kuthi building, now used by the university's unit of the Bangladesh National Cadet Corps.

[citation needed] In front of the Senate House is Shabash Bangladesh, one of the largest war memorial sculptures, designed and constructed by Nitun Kundu.

The university's departments represent the traditional studies in arts, commerce, sciences and engineering through programs such as English, history, languages and linguistics, economics, business studies, mathematics, applied mathematics, physics, computer science & engineering, chemistry, statistics, geology & mining, geography, psychology, zoology, botany, etc.

The university is increasingly emphasizing more specialized programs such as pharmacy, biochemistry, Information and Communication engineering (ICE), genetics and breeding.

It is currently under consideration that a separate BCS Cadre (Land) may be created and graduates from this discipline will only be able to apply for those jobs.

The school was started in February 1966 on an experimental basis, operating out of Rajshahi University's Mannujan Hall.

The university has branches of all major national cultural groups, including Udichi and Gono Natto Shongstha.

During the major Muslim religious occasions of Eid, the university is usually deserted as students go home to be with their families.

The major Hindu festival celebrated in the university is Saraswati Puja—Saraswati, the goddess of knowledge, is worshiped in a central location as well as individually in many residential halls.

[43] During the 1980s, the four-year honors course took as long as eight years due to the session backlogs, resulting mainly from conflicts between factions of political groups.

[47] In 2005, Muhammad Asadullah Al-Ghalib, a professor of the Department of Arabic, was arrested on suspicion of militant activities but was acquitted of all charges in 2008.

Video footage and photos published in Bangladeshi media showed BCL men with sticks, bamboo poles, a dagger and a hammer beating Toriqul, who suffered a broken leg and severe head injury.

Images of the attack, distributed on social media, sparked widespread criticism over police and university administration inaction.

[51][52][53][54] Despite student Toriqul's unresolved major injuries, the university's Rajshahi Medical College Hospital discharged him 5 July 2018, forcing his doctor to arrange for immediate surgery elsewhere.