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From 640 Emerson to 1856 Orrington, Northwestern University’s sorority quad is home to several small dorms all with strange numbers in their names. Relatively unknown except to their residents, these dorms offer a different point of view to student life at Northwestern.
Many of these smaller south area dorms are converted sorority houses. 1871 Orrington, the recently refashioned Kappa Kappa Gamma house was home to Megan Markle, Duchess of Sussex.
Natalia, a Weinberg freshman and resident of 636 Emerson, another old sorority house, says that most people didn’t know that there were residence halls nestled within the sorority quad.
NATALIA: They’re like ‘ oh, do you live in a sorority?’ and it’s like no, I just live in an old one.
While older than 1838 Chicago and Allison, they have their modern touches. One second-year, Joshua compared his dorm last year, Bobb, to his experience this year in 1871 Orrington.
JOSHUA: the facilities are definitely nicer.
A Weinberg first year in the same building, Alan, also shared his opinions about the state of the building.
It’s a somewhat older building but I think that the experiences overweigh that.
While home to fewer residents, many of them include newly renovated bathrooms, large study and social spaces. A first-year living in 1871 Orrington, Sheridan, enjoys using the space.
SHERIDAN: There’s a lot of places on the main floors to study which I really appreciate.
SHERIDAN: There is a beautiful sunroom out there that you can sit and it gets a lot of nice light so that’s probably my favorite.
NATALIA: Everytime I bring someone new they’re like, ‘oh it looks so nice.’
That was Natalia who likes showing off her dorm to her friends.
The social life in these small dorms can rival some of the more popular residence halls.
ALAN: I guess it’s easier to meet people and get along with them since there are not that many people that you’re interacting with and I prefer that.
Muha is another first-year that echoed those same sentiments. We found him spending time with friends in his dorm’s basement. He chose his small dorm because it offered continuous housing over winter break, something that he needs as an international student.
MUHA: I guess you get to know people more at a personal level. If it’s too large, you don’t really interact with everyone. It’s small, there’s more opportunity to interact with people.
While most liked their dorms, others had some minor complaints. Joshu lives south, where most of the converted sorority houses are. This can be quite inconvenient. Especially when most of his classes are in Tech, which is about half a mile away.
JOSHUA: This year I’m happy to be living with my friends but it’s a little difficult to be walking so much here and there.
Another student, Issac, expressed some discontent about the difficulty of trying to meet people during the first few weeks.
ISSAC: Especially at the start of the year, coming to campus. It was really hard to meet new people in such a small dorm. Especially a 30 person dorm.
There are certain challenges faced by students living in dorms of all sizes but overall it seems that Northwestern’s smallest dorms provide students with a tight-knit community. And the historic charm of the buildings certainly doesn’t hurt.
NATALIA: I like how close everyone is. All the freshmen are very nice to each other and we hang out all of everyday. I also like how it looks like a house. It feels very homey.
For WNUR news, I’m Rachel Spears with Ella Smith.
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