OUR HISTORY
1892
First Residential Commons
UChicago opens its doors with 2 residence halls, Middle and South Divinity Halls, for divinity school students along Ellis Avenue and North Hall, or Graduate Hall, for male graduate students in the arts and sciences.
April 1893
Snell Hall
The first dormitory for undergraduate men opens with generous $50K donation from Henrietta Snell to accommodate 60 students
July 1893
Kelly Hall
Kelly Hall, the first women’s dormitory opened with a $50K donation from Elizabeth Kelly. A second women’s dormitory was made possible with the donation of Mary Beecher the same summer
October 1893
Foster Hall
Foster Hall, the third womens dormitory opens and houses 68 students
January 1899
Green Hall
Green Hall opens on University Ave, linking Kelly and Beeher halls together and hosting 67 students. These three houses are called the “C-Group”
1901
Hitchcock hall was added as the largest dorm, holding 92 students, with the goals of promoting a “college home,” rather than just a place to sleep, with house culture, social environment, etc
1910
At this point, about 50% of undergraduate students lived at home or with relatives
1924
Construction of Swift Hall announced to function as home of the Divinity School. North, Middle, and South Halls were renamed as Gates-Blake and Goodspeed Halls
January 1925
James Angell articulated a visionary plan to turn south campus (past the Midway and between Ellise Ave and Woodlawn Ave) into a campus of undergraduate housing
June 1925
Hitchcock Hall divided into 5 wings, 3 of which were designated to Graduate students and the other two to Undergraduates
Autumn Quarter 1931
After years of planning and debating with the Board of Trustees, Burton-Judson Courts opened
1932
International House opens its doors for graduate students
1942
The College adapts the four-year curriculum, which allowed younger students to matriculate after high school and live in the dorms while upper-classmen were forced to move out to off-campus
1958
Opening of Woodlawn Courts (initially for women)
1960
Pierce Tower opens. Original buildings like Foster and Beecher Hall prove to no longer be serviceable and are intended to be turned into classrooms and offices. Parts of Burton-Judson courts have to be given to the Law School in effort to grow professional programs
1963
C-Group Dorms close down
1967-1975
The University switches to the “neighborhood strategy” of purchasing old buildings in the neighborhood and converting them into student use
1975-2000
Solidified active plans to advertise University of Chicago as a “residential college” are set in stone rather than putting off the initiative for years. This includes selling old broken buildings, purchasing and leasing new land, financing loans and contractors, and sketching out the physical layout of the school
2000
International House closes for graduate students and undergoes tens of millions of dollars worth of renovation upgrades
2002
Max Palevsky Residential Commons opens
Autumn 2009
Renee Granville-Grossman was built on South Campus, adjoining Burton-Judson Courts and the Law School
2016
Campus North Residential Commons built on North Campus, replacing Pierce Tower
Fall 2020
Woodlawn Residential Commons opens. All 2000s renovations made it possible to house slightly over 60% of current College Students in our new housing system
2024
Construction of a new major residential facility slated to be discussed in 2024 and completed by 2028