CT: Great student mixer: Four colleges + one dorm = housing model

[LookManLook]

http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/content/education/chi-0511060470nov06,1,7029632.story?coll=chi-homepagepromo-utl

"At the University Center of Chicago, the South Loop's multi-college dorm, students can play pool and foosball, keep their bikes in an indoor storage unit and practice on one of five pianos. They can even buy Slurpees from a 7-Eleven just off the lobby.

But for Danielle DeCuir, a Roosevelt University senior, the greatest benefit is meeting students from other Chicago colleges and taking advantage of programs at their schools. She's been to DePaul University's "involvement fair" and has attended several of Columbia College's Big Mouth nights for aspiring poets and singers.

"You get to know what is going on at all of the schools," said DeCuir, sitting in the oversized cafeteria, decorated in green and orange like shades of sorbet. The dorm, she said, "helps you meet new people."

A year after it opened, and more than six years after planning began, the 18-story University Center remains unprecedented in its size and ownership by multiple colleges. Columbia, DePaul and Roosevelt share the dorm for 1,672 students, and starting this fall, they were joined by Robert Morris College students."