There’s no place quite like a student home. Whether you made your best memories in your dorm or your ten-roommate, two-bedroom apartment we want to hear about it.
Tell us about your student home, and we’ll add your memory to our Badger Scrapbook. You can also tag your social posts #WhereBadgersBelong. (Include photos, please!)
Memories
Birge Hall apartments at 1932 old University Ave. was my first campus apartment for my sophomore year. Loved the view of campus and didnt know what I was doing as far as apartment hunting goes- neither did my roommate. Turns out the furnaces didn’t work and the windows leaked. The grad student that was the apt manager would crank up the heat in the hallways and tell us to keep our doors open- which made the temperature bearable in the winter but also made for communal living. He would put gobs of caulk around the windows in hope of ending the leaks so the snow wouldn’t blow in. That winter of ‘84 was brutally cold so there were several pipes that burst causing all of our units to be flooded. And then the cockroaches!!! Non stop fun. When I pass by that place on visits to Madison I wonder if the place has ever improved and have always thought that it set the bar pretty low for all future living places in my life. Everything has been better than that place. It was part of the complete picture for learning experiences during my Madison years. Judy Kramer ’86
For one semester I attended my Italian class smelling like Gordon Commons. It wasn’t a bad smell, just a breakfast smell, because I worked the morning shift there every Monday, right before Italian 101.
The atmosphere at “Gordo’s” was always very friendly as my fellow student workers and I labored through fairly light duties: sorting silverware, cashiering, salad bar, for example. There were, however, mandatory “shit shifts” every semester (hard or unpleasant tasks) because no one would ever work those voluntarily.
I donned the Gordon Commons hairnet for three years in the 1980s and it was the most flexible student job. I always thought they prepared fine meals too. Laura Canadeo ’85
In 1971, a group of students leased the Acacia fraternity house at 222 Langdon St and turned it into one of the least-known and best-run co-op residences on campus. I lived there from 1972 until I graduated in 1974 and served as one of the food buyers. Best memories include an ecumenical Christmas tree with a Star of David on top; our fabulous members-only Thanksgiving feasts; and the line-up for dinner each evening (we ate like kings at residence hall prices). My roommates were both business majors and the ran the co-op finances. At the end of the lease (I believe in 1975), Acacia resumed operations and the co-op ceased to exist. But it was great while it lasted! Sorry, I don’t seem to have any photos! Doug Zoerb ’74
My best friend Carol Siebers (class of 64) and I resided in a studio apartment on Johnson St. It had a pull out couch/bed and a pot belly stove with a chimney pipe that came out a few times and deposited soot all over everything. The place was so small that while reading Catch-22 I had to sit in the bathroom because my laughter was disturbing her study time. There was a pie manufacturing company almost next door and we occasionally could purchase a fresh cherry pie. Across the street was Glen & Anns with scooners of beer and great burgers. A wonderful time to be a UW student. Fond memories. Sharron Hall Smith ’65
An open door to house fellow Rebekah Pulido's room provides a calm welcome as new students move into Witte Residence Hall at the University of Wisconsin-Madison on Aug. 31, 2019. Polido was soon to start her shift as a Badger Buddy volunteer helping other students moving in. Move-in continues Sept. 1, and leads into weeks of Wisconsin Welcome programming and the start of the fall semester. (Photo by Jeff Miller / UW-Madison)
Its thumbs up for undergraduate Meghan Drahiem, from Mankato, Minn., as UW-Madison mascot Bucky Badger and countless Badger Buddy volunteers welcome and help new students moving into Witte Residence Hall at the University of Wisconsin-Madison on Aug. 26, 2017. Move in continues on Aug, 29, 30 and 31, and leads into weeks of Wisconsin Welcome programming and the start of the fall semester. (Photo by Jeff Miller / UW-Madison)
Undergraduate Badger fans gather in a resident's room at Sellery Hall at the University of Wisconsin-Madison to watch the Wisconsin men's basketball team take on Kentucky during a NCAA Final Four tournament game played at AT&T Stadium in North Texas on April 5, 2014. Wisconsin lost to Kentucky, 73-74, in a closely fought game. (Photo By Jeff Miller/UW-Madison)
On May 1, 2020, a message of love written on a white board hanging on a residentís door is pictured in Sellery Residence Hall as some student residents return to campus to gather their belongings from UW Housing facilities at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. The staggered move-out process, occurring April 27-May 7, requires people to practice social distancing and safety protocols. Many student residents left campus for UW-Madison Spring Break in mid-March thinking the UW-Madison campus would only be temporarily closed in response to health concerns of the global coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. (Photo by Jeff Miller / UW-Madison)
Home is where the Wisconsin Badger football blanket is. First-year undergraduate Erin Wendt settles in with her laptop computer to study in the Women In Science and Engineering (WISE) den in Sellery Residence Hall at the University of Wisconsin-Madison during the evening of April 17, 2013. In the background are fellow WISE residents Bailee Stark, left, and Maria Bakker. The photograph was created for #UWRightNow, a 24-hour multimedia and social-network project. (Photo by Jeff Miller/UW-Madison)
On Aug. 14, 2011, University of Wisconsin-Madison undergraduates Lisa Diaz (left) and Megan Tyson (right) are surrounded by their possessions on the lawn of their campus-area rental house during the annual Madison move-out/move-in weekend. With housing leases ending on Aug. 14 and a new leases taking effect on Aug. 15, landlords have a window of time to clean, paint and make necessary repairs. In the meantime, tenants must find temporary shelter for themselves and their belongings. (Photo by Bryce Richter / UW-Madison)
UW-Madison mascot Bucky Badger visits the room of new student roommates Renata Basic, center, and Cassidy Anderson in Ogg Residence Hall at the University of Wisconsin-Madison on Aug. 31, 2019. Move-in continues Sept. 1, and leads into weeks of Wisconsin Welcome programming and the start of the fall semester. (Photo by Jeff Miller / UW-Madison)
At left, Ethan Villwock, plays a video game with new student Spencer Dichter in Villwock's room in Witte Residence Hall at the University of Wisconsin-Madison on Aug. 31, 2019. Villwock was soon to start his shift as a Badger Buddy volunteer helping other students moving in. Move-in continues Sept. 1, and leads into weeks of Wisconsin Welcome programming and the start of the fall semester. (Photo by Jeff Miller / UW-Madison)
Four men relax under lofted beds in a double room in Sullivan hall, ca. 1975 - ca. 1985 (UW Archives, S12185)
A man sorts clothing in the laundry room of the Randall Tower apartments, formerly on Johnson Street, ca. 1980 (UW Archives, S12215)
A woman talks on the phone while three of her friends look on in a dorm room in Elizabeth Waters hall, ca. 1975 - ca. 1985 (UW Archives, S12170)
Three students talk together in a dorm room (UW Archives, S14102)
Four women sit on a bed in a dorm room playing cards, ca. 1950 - ca. 1959 (UW Archives, S05617)
A man and woman chat in a dorm room in Sellery Hall, 2008 (UW Archives, S05685)
Jihyun Kim, Jeyan Nadarajah, Sharmila Naidu, Amish Patel and Sriniras Reddy sit socializing in a dormitory, ca. 1990 - ca. 1999. Photo by Glenn Trudel. (UW Archives, S06379)
Two women relax in their dorm room, ca. 1890 - ca. 1909 (UW Archives, S12253)
A group of students sit in an apartment and smile for the camera, ca. 2005 (University of Wisconsin—Madison Multicultural Student Center, UW Archives)
Two women talk in a dormitory room in Ogg Hall East, November 22, 1976 (UW Archives, S05680)
Two students sit in a dormitory room, ca. 1980 - ca. 1989 (UW Archives, S05982)
