Remembering Student Spaces

Story Tree, Re-remembered

What should we do when one of Southwestern's beloved memory places is dying?

In early November, 2025, people started noticing that one of the Story Tree’s main limbs had broken off and fallen to the ground. One of those people was Josh Long, Professor of Environmental Studies, who emailed a group of faculty and staff known to care for the Story Tree, including me both…
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An Ode to Graffiti Bridge

A secretive student space with a precarious existence

It’s a late night and you want a break from homework. You begin to stroll around campus and your mind wanders. You pass Prothro, then Olin, then the Chapel. You walk along the paths next to the upperclass dorms and find yourself on the periphery of the Dorothy Lord Center Apartments. The street…
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The Kappa Delta Chi Chapter Room as Memory Place

Nurturing a legacy of Latine sisterhood, service, and social justice

Southwestern University is home to the Alpha Tau chapter of Kappa Delta Chi, which resides in the Caskey building alongside other sorority chapter rooms. Every week, active members of the multicultural sorority meet for chapter to plan academic, service, social, and philanthropic events. This entry…
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Remembering “the Black Room” in Mood Hall

Amid a challenging social climate, early Black students at Southwestern created a space of their own in the dormant Mood Hall that they called “the Black Room.”

In the late 1960s and early 1970s, as Southwestern University began enrolling its first Black students, the broader campus climate remained challenging. Formalized social avenues such as fraternities, sororities, and other traditional student organizations, had long been defined by white students’…
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Remembering the Gender Awareness Center, or GAC

The Gender Awareness Center (GAC) began in 1989 as the first space at Southwestern University dedicated to gender-related resources, activism, and discussion.

The Gender Awareness Center (GAC) was the first physical space for gender related issues and resources at Southwestern University. It moved around a lot in its years at SU, and was opened, closed, and re-opened several times before it eventually disappeared a few years ago. In each iteration, it…
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Remembering the "Wall of Voices" (1997-1998)

Examining the history of an early physical social platform at Southwestern to understand the pursuit and limits of student expression on campus

The “Wall of Voices” was a bulletin board located in the old “Round Commons” that functioned as an anonymous forum to promote free speech amongst students from 1997-1998. Unlike today, where we have multiple avenues across social media for anonymous and non-anonymous community discourse, the Wall…
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JEDI Center

An Office Focused on Social Justice That is Also a Safe Space for People With Marginalized Identities

The Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (JEDI) Center was created in 2022 by Malissa Ismaila, Director of Student Inclusion and Diversity. The JEDI center is located on the 3rd floor of the McCombs Campus Center. Its predecessor, the Office of Diversity Education (ODE), led by Terri…
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The Women's Studies Alcove as Memory Place

Inside this space in the Library for remembering the history of Feminism at Southwestern and much more.

For several generations, the Smith Library Center has served as a central study spot for students. Across its three floors, the library offers a variety of spaces for collaboration, research, creation, and reflection, making it one of the most popular buildings on campus and useful spaces for…
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Story Tree

Whose place is it?

Though the university has incorporated it into the institution’s recognized traditions, Story Tree remains largely “owned,” used, and perpetuated by the students. The student body originally made the tree their own and continues to remake it as their own by proliferating new practices. Through various offerings and hidden practices, students consistently reinforce this site as a place of…
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Korouva as Memory Place in 2023

In May, 2023, when the Placing Memory project began, Korouva Milk Bar was located in the Field House on the western edge of campus in a state of limbo, a relic from a lost time. Korouva was an exclusively student-run café and organization that opened in 1994 and closed its doors in March 2020 as part of the initial COVID-19 pandemic lockdown and had sat there frozen in time ever since.
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How Korouva Milk Bar Became a Place

The Korouva Milk Bar was an exclusively student-run café and organization that opened in 1994 and closed its doors in 2020 as part of the initial COVID-19 pandemic lockdown. As of this writing, in May 2023, it has not re-opened, though plans are in motion to resurrect it in a different location on the east side of campus in the near future.
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"Monstrance for a Grey Horse"

In just a few years after it appeared on campus, this enigmatic sculpture has become a good-luck charm and object of worship for many Southwestern students.

"Monstrance for a Grey Horse," now known simply as “Monstrance” by students, is a hallmark of any current Southwestern campus tour, and an important cultural touchstone for current student life. All throughout the school year, but especially during exam and holiday seasons, students…
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The Early History of Sororities at Southwestern

The establishment of sororities on our campus shows a history of perseverance as women sought to create equity between men and women on campus.

Following the arrival of Greek fraternities for men in 1887, female students saw a need for a similar space in which they could create bonds and connect to other like-minded female students through ritual. However, they were dismissed by the Faculty and Administration, as some thought allowing…
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