Gallery: Communal spaces in on-campus housing

Gabriel Bernick/The Daily Northwestern

A student combs through a book in the Communications Residential College “Big Screening Room.”

Gabriel Bernick, Reporter

November 8, 2024

When students return to their dorms, they aren’t just looking for a place to spend the night. On-campus housing provides lounges as well as other communal spaces for students to study, converse, relax and unwind. Each dorm at Northwestern provides different amenities for students to enjoy.

A girl who is sitting in a chair with her headphones on looks down as she plays her guitar. — Practicing her guitar in the CRC lounge, a student retains focus on her song. (Gabriel Bernick/The Daily Northwestern)

A projector is plugged into the wall, and in the background are two movie posters. — A projector is used to stream movies in CRC’s “Big Screening Room.” (Gabriel Bernick/The Daily Northwestern)

One student looks directly at a vending machine. The friend next to her is pointing at the vending machine while she is looking at it. — Students select a snack from a vending machine in McCulloch Hall. (Gabriel Bernick/The Daily Northwestern)

A student with glasses is sitting at a table on her computer and is smiling and laughing. The boy with glasses who sits next to her is speaking and staring directly at her. — In the McCulloch lounge, students converse as they complete homework. (Gabriel Bernick/The Daily Northwestern)

A student wearing a “USA Athletics” shirt is about to hit a ping-pong ball with the table tennis racket. — Completing a pass, a student competes in a table tennis game in the Elder Hall lounge. (Gabriel Bernick/The Daily Northwestern)

A board on the wall in Elder says “Which Candy” in big letters. Around the text are ghosts and pumpkins with the names of different candies. Clips are poked into the options that are chosen. — A decorated board on an Elder floor polls students about their favorite Halloween candy. (Gabriel Bernick/The Daily Northwestern)

A girl is looking at her friend on her right who is holding up a Halloween bustier. They are both seated at a table with Cheetos, Celsius drinks, Cheez-It crackers, a phone, tape and other miscellaneous items. — A student shows off her Halloween costume in the kitchen of Shepard Hall. (Gabriel Bernick/The Daily Northwestern)

A girl is on her phone texting a friend on a floating ovular chair suspended from the ceiling. She is surrounded by other chairs of this kind. — Lounging in the “nest room” in Shepard, a student gabs with a friend. (Gabriel Bernick/The Daily Northwestern)

Five students crowd beside a table. They have just finished eating off their plates and are now laughing after someone has told a joke. — Students gather to eat and decompress in the Shepard kitchen. (Gabriel Bernick/The Daily Northwestern)

A foosball player figurine is in focus as it sits next to its row of other foosball figurines on a line that is pulled. — Foosball is one of the recreation activities available at the lounge in Foster-Walker Complex. (Gabriel Bernick/The Daily Northwestern)

A student leans over a table with a cue stick in hand. His right finger is over the cue stick, and he is looking at the table. — Eyeing a ball on the billiards table, a student plays pool in Foster-Walker. (Gabriel Bernick/The Daily Northwestern)

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