WHAT IS A RESIDENTIAL COLLEGE ANYWAY?
Willard is one of the many residential colleges at Northwestern. What is a residential college you ask? Well, let me tell you about it: A residential college tends to have a more "community oriented" feel than a normal dorm does. For example: whereas many students in dorms tend to know people they live next to or around, many people in residential colleges know pretty much the whole building. Residential colleges are smaller and tend to do more "community" activities, such as munchies, exploring downtown Chicago, having guest speakers and performers, having faculty members come to lunch, and the like. One aspect that makes Willard different (and quite frankly, better) than most residential colleges, is that it is "multi-thematic." While some residential colleges tend to have a theme (i.e. they tend to accept students of a certain area of study), you'll find people in all of Northwestern's schools in Willard; everyone from Pre-Med students and Engineers to History majors and Theatre majors call Willard home. When you combine this multi thematic aspect of Willard with the community oriented feel of a residential college, you get one hell of an awesome place to live!
WHO IS THIS WILLARD GUY?
Well actually, she was a girl. Frances Willard (1839-1898) was an educator, President of the United States' Women's Christian Temperance Union (1879), and even helped to pass the 18th and 19th amendments as an avid women's suffragist. More importantly, good ol' Franny was the first dean of women at Northwestern in 1887, and thus we get the name of our hall. While it used to be an all-women's dorm, it has since turned co-ed (although you'll only find one urinal in all of Willard to this day...) and has lost all affiliation with the Temperance Union and the suffrage movement. However, Franny's name will live on forever as the name of the best residential college that Northwestern has to offer!
WHAT'S WOO?
Ah yes, "Woo." One of the many Willard-ese terms you will hear during your stay. Let me give you a short list so you aren't confused by the rest of this site and/or zany e-mails you get from the Executive Board.
- Woo or Woo Shack: WILLARD!! No one really knows where this nickname came from, but it's legit.
- Saga: Our dining hall located in the basement. Saga is the name of the (bad) food company that used to supply our food (believe me it's SO good now!). However, we still affectionately say "saga" instead of "Willard Café." ew.
- Res College (pronounced "rez collge"): you guessed it: Residential College.
- Exec: Executive Board (President, Vice President, Secretary, etc.)
- Shits N' Giggles: the weekly newsletter that's hung up in all the bathroom stalls. Get it? Shits N' Giggles... because you read it while you shit... and yes, you WILL giggle.
- Woo2: Second Floor Willard
- Penthouse: the girls hallway on the fifth floor near the laundry room
- CA: community assistant. This is equivalent to an RA at other schools, but since res colleges are "community" oriented, we have assistants to said community, thus: CA.
- LoHo: this stands for Lost Horizons, which is the hallway found on the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd floor at the very end.
- BroRow: the long main hallways in which one will find mainly boys rooms, or, a Row of Bros
- HoRow: the shorter hallways in which one will find mainly girls rooms, or, a Row of Hos (sorry ladies...)
