OT - How different is campus since you were there?

[ColchVEGAS]

I'll one-up that... The dorms in West were "L" shaped. One part of the L was male, the other female. So no stairs at all. Just one awkward, stumbling turn to paydirt.

This was my experience. West was a dump but I loved it.

 

[Trudy Gay]

WTH is downtown Storrs?? Is that like where the Oaks is? Is it still the Oaks? I guess I’m old

 

[AdamaNation]

A few years ago. I stayed at the Graduate Hotel. The hotel bar filled up with professors who started trickling in at 3 PM. The new rec center was much nicer than what we had in the early 70s.

Love the grad.

 

[Hoophound]

The funny thing about people always saying Storrs is isolated is that while it is a town unto itself, a large metro area that begins in Manchester is 15-20 minutes away. There’s a reason there’s no Best Buy in Storrs, it’s because Storrs isn’t actually isolated at all. Isolated means there’s nothing nearby.

 

[CL82]

WTH is downtown Storrs?? Is that like where the Oaks is? Is it still the Oaks? I guess I’m old

 

[cwh20]

Yes! Family style dining was great and I did the same for breakfasts. Tom was our cook’s name and he was awesome. Great memories

I was in Towers and yeah, I loved the dining. And after dinner about 20 or so would watch M*A*S*H together right after in the common room. And the one dorm phone was there in case you didn’t have one in your room. Every so often you had to track someone down when a parent called. Shout out to Charlie the cook and let’s say knowing the assistant steward had its advantages on random weekends. Also, the long gone open space field next to the dorm was great for intramural ultimate and football.

Anyone remember the cartoon Bedlam Hall in the 1982 Connecticut Daily Campus? By Paul Cantanese. It covered dorm life at UConn humorously and perfectly. I have the book he published the next year with all the strips in it. It’s still fun to look at every other year or so.

 

[Gurleyman]

downtown storrs in my day was a Store 24 and Phil’s Stationary - which sold baseball cards. I think there was a Hardee’s in that little strip mall too.

 

[Trudy Gay]

downtown storrs in my day was a Store 24 and Phil’s Stationary - which sold baseball cards. I think there was a Hardee’s in that little strip mall too.

Same but no one called it downtown storrs 😂

 

[Palatine]

Why wouldn’t it? There are 50k students there vs just over 20k at UConn.

The most recent detailed figures available from the University of Connecticut's fact sheets show a total population of over 44,000 people, combining students, faculty, and staff.

Based on the Fall 2024 data:

• Total Student Enrollment (Undergraduate and Graduate/Professional): 33,554
• Total Faculty & Staff (Full-time & Part-time, including UConn Health): 11,011

 

[alexd]

I remember in the late 80s, from my sister's room in McMahon, looking down at the construction project and the big round hole in the ground affectionately dubbed "the Conn-dome".

 

[Excalibur]

The most recent detailed figures available from the University of Connecticut's fact sheets show a total population of over 44,000 people, combining students, faculty, and staff.

Based on the Fall 2024 data:

• Total Student Enrollment (Undergraduate and Graduate/Professional): 33,554
• Total Faculty & Staff (Full-time & Part-time, including UConn Health): 11,011

That's all campuses. And the same metric for PSU would still be much larger. I was using the undergraduate enrollment.

 

[HuskyHawk]

When I was there, it was mostly coed with only Stowe (all male) and Crandall (all female) being single sex dorms. Being able to walk up or down a flight of stairs to reach the girls' floors was... convenient.

It was the most popular dorm complex on campus due to location and the preponderance of dorms that were F-M-F. I lived in Towers, Frats (Northwest) and eventually got to South as a 9th semester senior. On my floor, every guy but one was 9th semester.

I agree on the small dorm dining situation, it could be inconvenient because dinner was at a fixed time (or you might not like it and had no options), but the family style dinners and small groups at breakfast/lunch meant you got to know all 60 people pretty quickly. It was also interesting in that we hired the cooks, paid them and told them what we wanted to eat.

 

[CL82]

It was the most popular dorm complex on campus due to location and the preponderance of dorms that were F-M-F. I lived in Towers, Frats (Northwest) and eventually got to South as a 9th semester senior. On my floor, every guy but one was 9th semester.

I agree on the small dorm dining situation, it could be inconvenient because dinner was at a fixed time (or you might not like it and had no options), but the family style dinners and small groups at breakfast/lunch meant you got to know all 60 people pretty quickly. It was also interesting in that we hired the cooks, paid them and told them what we wanted to eat.

Yep. And if you wanted a "special" meal, say surf and turf, you could do that, but you'd have to stretch your kitchen budget with a lot of inexpensive meals to make up for it.

I enjoyed it. I was fortunate to get into South as a freshman.

 

[UConn77]

I was there from 1973-77 and lived in South Campus, which of course is no longer there. Our cook was a guy named Red, who was well connected in Willimantic. We had lobster and steak on several occasions. The highlight occurred in 1974, when Red contacted a friend named Lefty, who brought a copy of Deep Throat to the dorm for an evening showing in the cafeteria. It was a full house viewing it, which crowd dispersed quickly following the movie.

 

[Chuck]

Yep. And if you wanted a "special" meal, say surf and turf, you could do that, but you'd have to stretch your kitchen budget with a lot of inexpensive meals to make up for it.

I enjoyed it. I was fortunate to get into South as a freshman.

I waitered in South when I moved off campus. Great job. I had a great chef and I think we got a full meal plan although I just used it for dinner and some lunches. Residents were all nice.

As you referenced, the chef had a monthly budget and the last month of each semester we'd eat on the cheap and use the bulk of the money fan an end-of-semester feast.

 

[FlakeyFoont]

Anyone else hit a bucket of balls at the campus driving range north of the Towers dorms? Would walk there from Sprague in spring 1971. Moved to Belden the next year and never made it back there.

 

[Hey Adrien!]

Well, you know what they say, $4.9 billion here, $4.9 billion there and eventually you're talking about real money...

For what it's worth "old" South campus was awesome. 60 person dorms, 20 on the floor, mostly alternating between men's and women's floors. Each dorm had its own cook and its own dining hall. It made for a great family atmosphere.

(Plus, as a freshman, I can remember getting out of the shower, calling downstairs to the cook for an omelette, slapping it between a couple of slices of toast, grabbing a cup of coffee and hiking across campus for my morning classes. It was terrific.)

No doubt "(new)" South campus is more attractive and more modern but I doubt it is a better experience than the old dorms offered.

This reminds me of my senior year experience at Whitney, which I freakin' loved.

I had a single dorm on a floor of mostly weekday warriors who would be gone on the weekends. I was also one of the few people in the building that was 21, so my RA basically said to me as long as you don't do anything stupid, you'll probably never see me this year.

The dining hall was top-notch: small batch food, lots of organic/local options and a handful of chefs that made you feel like you were being cooked real food vs getting food that's been sitting in a buffet all day. When I worked as an assistant AV tech in the Neag building, I'd sometimes take the full-timers to Whitney for lunch and they loved it.

 

[Taco]

I remember in the late 80s, from my sister's room in McMahon, looking down at the construction project and the big round hole in the ground affectionately dubbed "the Conn-dome".

I remember when it was being built - got caught trespassing on the site late one night, if memory serves. Called it the ConnDome like I think every one did - never thought anyone would call by its real name.

I think the State legislature made it too small on purpose so a good chunk of games would remain at the Civic Center - not sure it’s capacity now, but I think it was initially just 8k

 

[HooperScooper]

I remember when it was being built - got caught trespassing on the site late one night, if memory serves. Called it the ConnDome like I think every one did - never thought anyone would call by its real name.

I think the State legislature made it too small on purpose so a good chunk of games would remain at the Civic Center - not sure it’s capacity now, but I think it was initially just 8k

That was the deal when it was built. They didn't want it competing with the Civic Center in Hartford.

When Gampel was being built a friend of mine was coming back from Ted's and went through the Gampel site (don't ask me how because he doesn't remember!) and got arrested by campus police for trespassing as he came out the other side. Please tell me you had to go to court because he had to. We still laugh about it to this day.

 

[Taco]

That was the deal when it was built. They didn't want it competing with the Civic Center in Hartford.

When Gampel was being built a friend of mine was coming back from Ted's and went through the Gampel site (don't ask me how because he doesn't remember!) and got arrested by campus police for trespassing as he came out the other side. Please tell me you had to go to court because he had to. We still laugh about it to this day.

Sorry - had a nice chat with the officer about how I wished it was bigger (the arena) and he let us go. I think we hadn’t been there long and we hadn’t done anything other than walk around.

 

[HCCForever]

I enjoyed my time in Wright B which was in the Northwest Quad/ Frats. As others have mentioned we had a small dining hall which fed 60 and our.own Cook. Stan was not the best cook but it was convenient.

The best time of day was sitting in common room waiting for dinner to be served at 5:15. I got to know the people in the dorm this way.

We played football in the quad and softball and basketball behind our dorm near the tennis courts. We affectionately called it Camp UConn. The dorm was knocked down to make room for a large shared dining hall but the memories remain from over forty years ago.

 

[T-Squared]

Farmer Brown’s lot is gone.
New South Campus dorms (yes, 30-years new to me).
Ted’s is somehow worse (where’s the dart board?).
The water towers are nicely painted (climbed them in 1982).
The whole road area by Jorgensen is different.
Fountain in Swan Lake.
Hotel is new.
Co-op is in new location.
Gampel is new.
Apartments near Hilltop are new.
Hockey arena is upgraded.
Soccer field is upgraded (can’t sit along the touch line).

 

[uconnfan68]

I remember when it was being built - got caught trespassing on the site late one night, if memory serves. Called it the ConnDome like I think every one did - never thought anyone would call by its real name.

I think the State legislature made it too small on purpose so a good chunk of games would remain at the Civic Center - not sure it’s capacity now, but I think it was initially just 8k

Yup, size was on purpose. Had to please Hartford/state pols.

 

[CL82]

Hockey arena is upgraded

Twice