WILLARD DICTIONARY
terms you should know
terms you should know
Faculty - In - Residence: The Faculty-in-Residence (FIR) is a member of Northwestern’s faculty who lives with their family in an apartment attached to the dorm. They host dinners and other events regularly for Willard residents (and they’re super cool!).
Non-res or non-resident members of Willard are students who don't live in the building but are still able to earn points by going to events! Both res and non-res students who have enough points are eligible to apply to live in Willard for the followng year. Apply to be non-res here!
As a member of Willard Residential College, you belong to the Southwest Neighborhood, which includes other nearby dorms. The neighborhood regularly hosts events in and around Willard, including Snacks by Southwest, which essentially means free food on Sunday evenings.
Once a year, Willard residents get dressed up in their finest clothes and dance all night at a special venue in Chicago! Most recently, our formal was at the DANK Haus and featured great music, food from Seoul Taco, a photo booth, and much more!
This term refers to all of the residents of Willard Residential College. Once a Woo, always a Woo. 'Sko Woos!
There’s an ongoing debate about whether the roof actually exists. Both arguments are convincing, and there are die-hard believers for both sides. Pick a side and help your fellow Woos determine if the roof is, in fact, real.
At the beginning of the year, all residents join a GroupMe chat for the dorm, known as the Woochat. Here, your social chairs will advertise a lot of events, people will ask if anyone’s seen their sweater, and it will be your primary source of memes related to that inevitable 2:00 a.m. fire alarm.
Willard slang for “Let’s go Woos,” this phrase is applicable almost everywhere. A Woo does well on an orgo exam? 'Sko Woos. We win IM dodgeball? 'Sko Woos. We ignite a proletarian revolution? 'Sko Woos. The phrase is also often accompanied by the making of one's hands into a "W" 👐
It’s how Woos connect their computers to the TV-- all around the building (which has so, so many TVs), but mostly in the first floor lounge. Just please, please don’t put it by the fireplace when the fire is on. Things can melt (it's happened before).
The Willard Fellows are faculty members and graduate students who have committed to be part of the Willard community. They come to events planned by the college, engage with Woos, and even host exclusive classes and events for Willard residents. Every quarter we send out a list of classes being taught by Fellows and they love to see Woos in their classes.
Willard’s Executive Board takes charge of creating all dorm events, ensures the college runs smoothly, and tries to make sure all residents are happy with the Woo Shack life. If you want a full description of each officer’s job, check out our Exec bios!
Located in Willard’s basement, the Collab room is perfect for anyone who wants to get work done but doesn’t want to cross the frozen tundra to Main in the dead of winter. You can work with friends and use the whiteboards and butcher paper provided in the rooms as you desperately try to remember the argument Hobbes makes for the human state of nature.
These rooms are Willard collaboration spaces often used for meetings and events. B06 is a small conference room perfect for that RA meeting. B72 is a classroom and also a meeting space for larger clubs. It's often referred to as the PCKL (prounounced 'pickle').
The Willard First Floor Lounge. The first-floor lounge is open to all residents, so you can often hear people in the halls shouting “meet me in the WFFL!” The space is often home to many dorm-wide events, including Waffles in the WFFL, where residents ate Eggo waffles during Reading Week, and features a full kitchen, two TVs, and lots of space to lounge, chat with your friends, or do some work.