Willard Residential College
(Willard)
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Theme: Non-Thematic
Location: Southwest Campus
Size: 261
Rival: Shepard and Chapin
Claim to Fame: Largest (Best) residential college
Big Tradition: Willard Formal
Thematic Event: Fellows Barbeque
Social Event: Munchies!
A Fireside: Willard Folklore
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Founded in 1972, Willard Residential College (known as the Woo-Shack) is one of the oldest and largest members of Northwestern University's Residential College Board. Built in 1938, Willard Hall was originally a female dormitory until it became the first undergraduate co-ed housing on campus in 1970. Recently renovated in 2017, Willard contains Fran's Cafe and a wide variety of lounges and study spaces in its first floor and basement, in addition to common areas on each floor. The former home of actors Stephen Colbert, David Schwimmer, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, and playwright Charles Busch, Willard has a long history as the social center of Northwestern’s south campus. Willard Hall was named after Frances Willard, president of the Evanston College for Ladies and a founder in the late nineteenth century of the Woman’s Christian Temperance Union.