Northwestern has one of the best campus locations in the world. The way our campus is set along Lake Michigan and the Lakefill feels like how someone might conceive a university campus if they were daydreaming. 

Somehow, we’re lucky enough to have a beautiful expanse of the waterfront. Yet I hardly ever see it on a daily basis walking to and from classes and activities. Perhaps that’s my bad, but I don’t think it’s absurd to say most students likely don’t see the lake as much as they should, given that it takes up a whole cardinal direction of our horizon. How is this possible?

If we survey the buildings that have nothing between them and the water, it becomes clear just how few of them are actually for all students. From north to south, we have 560 Lincoln, Ryan Fieldhouse, athletic fields, Kellogg Global Hub, the Allen Center, a utility plant, Norris University Center, Pick-Staiger Concert Hall, Regenstein Hall of Music, Patrick G. and Shirley W. Ryan Center for the Musical Arts, a parking lot, the Sailing Center and Segal Visitors Center. Of all of those buildings, only Norris is meant for everyone to use, and Lincoln is the only residence hall. Every other building or edifice along the waterfront is meant only for students of a certain school or sport. Even Norris is apparently slated to be rebuilt. 

Most of these buildings that house only certain schools or departments should be somewhere away from the coastline. The coastline buildings should instead be built for any student to use, like libraries, general studying or gathering spaces and even residence halls. Trying to look out on the lake from University Library is like attempting to look at a Picasso through a cheese grater. 

Of course, no one is stopping me from simply walking along the Lakefill and enjoying it as is, but that’s not a very serious suggestion given how cold, windy and gnat-infested it can get. It should not be difficult to look out at the lake just because it’s wintertime. The way NU has squandered its golden coastline is disappointing — it’s as if I stood at the edge of the Lakefill and threw a rock toward Lake Michigan and somehow missed. 

This is ultimately a pretty silly gripe in the grand scheme of things, and I almost feel guilty taking up space in the pages of The Daily given recent events. But with the way the world is, there’s never a good time to air trivialities like this. Nevertheless, next time you take a stroll on the Lakefill, I suggest you take a moment to imagine how you might build the University better. 

Grant Li is a Weinberg junior. He can be contacted at [email protected].edu. If you would like to respond publicly to this op-ed, send a Letter to the Editor to [email protected]. The views expressed in this piece do not necessarily reflect the views of all staff members of The Daily Northwestern.