Ok, I would like to support this new venture so I’ve decided to start a thread for U of C alums.
I graduated from U of C in 1997. I lived on campus for one year, then in an apartment for the remaining 3 yrs. I loved my time there, though it was a very “geeky” experience. People were very smart and self-involved – but if you found your niche it was a lot of fun.
I worked in the drama dept and found quite a few friends there. Unfortunately I’ve lost touch with all of my old friends. But I had a great time, and really enjoyed the city when we piled into my Toyota and cruised up LSD.
All in all I found it challenging and fun and surrounded by very smart people – which is a good place to be when you are 18-22.
Any other U of C alums around? Care to share your experiences?
I graduated from Northwestern. One of my few encounters with the U. of C. during my undergraduate days was going down to visit the friend of a friend, and over the main entry to the dorm seeing the chalked words, “Poverty, Chastity, Obedience.”
Ha ha! I didn’t go to the U of C (I’m not nearly smart enough), but I did live in HP in my 20s. It’s a great neighborhood, but kind of weird. I have never been in a college neighborhood that was so…quiet. All the time. And virutally no bars. You’d hardly know there was a university there.
Family anecdote…my grandfather went to the U of C, and played on their football team, back when they were still in the Big 10.
Chicago Reader Web editor here; I’m a U of C alum, graduated in '04. I loved it–I think you’re right, it’s a really tough place if you don’t find your niche since it’s pretty insular, but if you do it can be wonderful. I fell in with the tight-knit Chicago Maroon crowd and made lots of friends. I was also lucky enough to have a social circle when I arrived–I transferred from Deep Springs (long story), which feeds a couple students into the U of C every year, so there’s always a small community of former DS’ers.
I liked Hyde Park and still do–re bars, Jimmy’s still holds a spell over the neighborhood, but the Pub has one of the great beer selections in the city, and the Falcon is nice if you want to get away from the usual haunts. The Cove recently seems to have made an attempt to become more of a townie bar.
I think it’s so quiet-seeming because it’s a big university but the majority of the students are grad students, many of whom don’t live in Hyde Park or who live east of the tracks around Regents. Having such a weird grad/undergrad ratio really affects the atmosphere of the neighborhood.
Sarahfeena, would love to hear about your grandfather’s experiences. Even though I know the history, it’s still weird to think the U of C as a sports powerhouse. I think it’s hilarious that the best major-sport athlete to go to the U of C in a long time, guy named Moser or Mosier, was drafted by the SF Giants… and ended up clerking for John Roberts.
Not a U of C alum (now if you start a Lane Tech thread…), but I’ve know quite a few.
Without exception, every U of C alum I have known has been undeniably brilliant. Also without exception, in one respect or another, every U of C alum I have known has been goofier than fuck!
Just my experience.
I would, too…unfortuntely, he’s no longer with us, and I didn’t know to ask him anything about it when he was alive (I was just a kid when he died, and he would be over 100 if he were still around). However, I’m going to see my dad over Christmas…will see if I can get any info out of him.
You are right, it IS weird to think of U of C as a sports powerhouse. Talk about a different culture from today!
Apologies for not coming back here sooner. What with Christmas parties and closing out the year it’s been a very busy time.
I remember Jimmy’s all too well – weekdays watching Bulls games (Jordan, Pippen era), stumbling home in the freezing snow…
There was also a place called the “Tiki house” or something like that, can’t quite remember – they had the strongest drinks in Hyde Park and were open till 4am with food service. There was even a drink that was stronger than a Long Island Iced Tea. Yikes!
I agree that Hyde Park is a special neighborhood. There’s something about the place – yes, it’s an oasis of intellectualism (surrounded on 3 sides by some of the poorest, harshest parts of Chicago – the infamous South Side – and the lake on the 4th), but it’s also got an interesting cross section of people in the community. You can walk down the street and see students, professors, locals, families of all colour, Nation of Islam men (in very sharp suits), homeless handing out Streetwise – really, folks from all walks of life. It’s quite a place.
I’m glad to hear that there’s a U of C alum editing the Web part of the Reader. Gives me hope this place might survive after all.
Hey guys, I just found this thread. I’m an '04 grad, and I have strong suspicions that I know whet…but I’m not the type to reveal too much personal info around here. It’s one of those great fears of mine–people from Real Life finding my alter ego and sifting through the embarrassing stuff I may or may not have posted here…
But hey, I will say that I lived in the Shoreland and Blackstone, spent a whole lot of time at Burton-Judson, and married another alum (which someone told me I would do on my first day on campus). I would go back to Hyde Park in a heartbeat, but it’s not in the cards right now for several reasons. I still have friends there, though, and I visit often.
Glad to finally notice this thread; maybe some others will show up!
Not an alum, but when my friend recruited me out of the commercial real estate market (I managed hi-rise office buildings for 13 years) to be the Bus Guy for a large school bus company - we had some non-school contracts too like a Rush-St. Lukes shuttle to the train stations, ditto for Montgomery Wards.
Prior to I think 2000, when the CTA took a lot of our work over, we also did all of the campus routes, the Silver Streaks downtown, the dorm shuttles (I learned to hate the creep from there that called to bitch at me), the alphabets, even the Lab School buses.
I still wear my super-heavy warm maroon U of C hoodie. I loved hanging out there, what a cool neighborhood.
I’m a U of C alum, I graduated in 1969, so it was probably lots different then (although, in lots of ways, I bet it’s the same.)
I lived the first year in Snell Hall, which was then an all male dorm (they didn’t have coed dorms back then.) Our meals, however, were over in Woodward, since Snell didn’t have a kitchen. We were the baby-boomer coming to college, and there was a distinct housing shortage. They closed Snell after my first year, and I spent the next three years in Burton-Judson (I forgot the name of the hall, but one hall south of the main entrance on Ellis. Everyone else went to live in apartments, but I was happy with a dorm – they had a cleaning service once a week, they cooked the food (or what passed for food) and cleaned the dishes, and when there was a cockroach, they came and sprayed. Why in the world would I trade that for my own apartment?
'Twas good times, that was. But, of course, it was the 60s.
