Welcome to Willard Residential College!

Dear Incoming Willard Residents:

As the Faculty Chair of Willard Residential College, I am delighted to welcome you to Northwestern’s oldest and liveliest residential college. You are joining an exceptional group of Northwestern students, a vibrant community, and a rich tradition you will love and remember long after you graduate!

Willard students are famous for having real spirit. Even during the pandemic, that spirit overcame the difficulties of being a residential college with no one in residence.   For me, it was truly inspiring to see Willard students set an example for others to follow. They always do!

For years, the students of Willard have valued thinking for oneself.   They discuss everything from college life to great philosophical or political problems with enthusiasm and respect for each other’s opinions.  As a residential college, we don’t take positions on issues because we want to encourage people who think differently to feel comfortable voicing their beliefs and listening to those of others.  We differ, and we love it. Willard features a cohesive and caring community, and your own unique interests and active participation will prove essential to shaping the programmatic direction this year.  We have no mold into which you must fit and no set of beliefs to which you must conform. Many ways exist for you to become involved, and you are encouraged to exercise creativity. “Creativity” is the Willard watchword!

Willard occupies a magnificent, newly renovated building. The lower level, through which you enter the building on your way to the residential college proper, hosts amazing facilities.  Everything about the new Willard facilitates the building of community and sheer fun. You will love it!

We don’t know yet what move-in day will be like, but we do know that members of the Executive Board and the Resident Assistant team will be here to welcome you and help you settle in. Along with Associate Chair Christine Helmer and Assistant Chair Gillian Hemme, I will host a reception for you in the Willard First Floor Lounge (WFFL), also known as the “Waffle.” We are all looking forward to meeting you!

Christine Helmer is Professor of Religious Studies and German in the Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences. Committed to building a community at Willard, she is open to discovering the unique perspectives we all bring into conversation as we learn how to be scholars and persons together.  Her teaching and research has to do with the formation of the modern West, particularly the legacy of German thought, and how theology can be an intellectual practice in the study of religion. She is also interested in sports and classical music, and is eager to talk with you about things that matter to you. 

Gillian Hemme is in her third year of the Interdisciplinary PhD in Theatre and Drama. She examines the impacts of incarceration on the body as made legible through performance, and she conducts her work through embodied performance practices as well as archival research. Gillian is also a performer, playwright, and director. She serves as the point person for helping us coordinate day-to-day programmatic and administrative matters for faculty-student activities. Gillian is happy to help Willard residents with any questions or concerns that may come up to facilitate Willard's thriving, inclusive community! She looks forward to seeing you at High Table lunches, Willard functions, and office hours in her Willard office in the WFFL.

Every fall I offer the gigantic Russian 210-2, Introduction to Russian Literature, in which we read the two greatest novels ever written, Dostoevsky’s The Brothers Karamazov and Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina. These novels pose the ultimate questions:  does life have a meaning, and if so, what is it?  Are good and evil just social constructs or are they more than that?   What is love, and what sort of love makes a good life?  A special aspect of this class is an extra informal discussion group for Willard students, held in the Willard Hall seminar room (informally known to Willard people as the PCKL, pronounced “Pickle.”). Our faculty fellows offer seminars at Willard from time to time as well. I sincerely hope that you will consider taking these classes and make the effort to get to know our faculty at our many events as well as over lunch at our dining hall. This is what the residential college experience is all about!

—

Gary Saul Morson