Life at UChicago

Dear Student in the College

The University of Chicago is bigger than you may think. The main campus is right on Lake Michigan, seven miles south of downtown, in the neighborhood of Hyde Park/South Kenwood, which is home to 43,000 people, including more than 60 percent of the University's faculty and a great majority of its students. Besides the undergraduate College, the four graduate divisions, and the six professional schools, there are libraries, laboratories, museums, clinics, and other institutions; nursery and K-12 schools; a continuing-studies program; and an academic press. There are programs on the Hyde Park campus, in the downtown, and programs and study centers around the world. A world-class research Hospital sits on the west side of campus and the Argonne National Laboratories is a few miles away.

What is student life at Chicago like? It's what you do after class. It's how you interact with people. It's living in the Houses. It's competing on an intramural team or writing for the Maroon or being part of a religious community. It is whatever you do to have fun. It is one more way to determine what intrigues you, to try out your interest in a career, to figure out what you might want to do with the rest of your life. It is what you do when you don't have to do anything. It's what you choose when you have a lot to choose from.

Chicago students are not easily categorized. Some come together in groups, others go their own ways. They pursue myriad goals and satisfactions. They go to films or lectures or classical concerts—or all three. They organize events. They perform, produce, discuss; they help make University policy, go to big parties, publish magazines, do politics, work behind the scenes, serve the community, and govern their Houses.

How involved you become is up to you. You can join and you can lead. You have the freedom to shape your life here. Take the University and the city as your materials, choose what intrigues you, and start crafting. You'll find that the skills you learn, the experiences you go through, and the things you discover will change you—today and in the future. Go to the Student Activities and Resources Fair, one of the final events of Orientation, to find great student organizations and volunteer opportunities.

One great way to find activities is in your House. Look to your House for support and for stimulation (or provocation); it's a place where you can grow socially, athletically, intellectually, culturally, and psychologically. In the dining rooms, you and other members of your House have a designated table, so you have a clear "home base." Students who commute are also part of a community, the Commuter Students Association. It has its own study, kitchen, and recreation facilities in Cobb.

Communities come in many forms at Chicago , from common academic, artistic, and cultural interests, religious and political affiliation, to athletics, fraternities, and sororities. The University also supports student involvement in the community through the University Community Service Center . Many communities form around the mentor groups and activities of Offices and Centers such as those sponsored by the Office of Multicultural Student Affairs and International House.

Sincerely,
William J. Michel
Assistant Vice-President for Student Life and Associate Dean in the College