The University of Chicago (UChicago) is infamously touted as “the place where fun goes to die.” While it’s academically rigorous and Chicago winters are brutal, there are plenty of reasons why the university is fun.  

First, a little about “the place where fun goes to die.” The University of Chicago’s motto is “Crescat scientia; vita excolatur.” Translated from Latin, it means “Let knowledge grow from more to more,” reflecting the inquisitive culture surrounding campus. Over the last 132 years, the university has distinguished itself by combining a liberal arts education with a leading research institution.

Beyond that, the university offers summer scholarship programs to high school students, specifically from identities that are underrepresented in elite higher education. These include Emerging Rural Leaders (leaders from rural areas), Neubauer Family Adelante Scholars (Hispanic and Latino students), Latin American Phoenix Scholars (Latin American students), Woodson Summer Scholars (for Black students), and Police and Fire Scholars (students who are children of firefighters and police personnel). These programs are exceptional opportunities for high school students to gain experience in rigorous academic environments.

Now onto the fun facts: 

1. UChicago is located in the Hyde Park neighborhood in the south of Chicago. It’s a couple of blocks away from Michelle Obama’s childhood home and near where former President Barack Obama lives. 
2. The university boasts 94 Nobel Prize winners who were either students, faculty, or researchers at UChicago. Thirty economists affiliated with the university were named Nobel Laureates for their research and contributions to theory. 
3. The main characters of the classic rom-com “When Harry Met Sally,” were new UChicago graduates when they began their famous road trip. 
4.   Enrico Fermi created the first controlled nuclear chain reaction under the bleachers of the Stagg Field Stadium at UChicago. Fermi’s work set off the atomic age and contributed to the Manhattan Project. 
5. The Joe and Rika Mansueto Library was featured as the Erudite headquarters in Divergent. 3.5 million books are stored in the 5 stories beneath the library. Instead of librarians, robots retrieve book requests. 
6. UChicago was founded in 1890 by the philanthropic funds of John D. Rockefeller. Rockefeller also established International House, a residence hall still in use.  
7. UChicago has a history of leading women’s education. In the early years, over half of the students, especially in graduate school, were women. Equal access to education at UChicago became a major cause for alumnae and faculty, who protested trustees’ attempts to decrease women’s enrollment.  
8. UChicago’s residential system includes actual houses, like Harry Potter’s. Incoming students take a survey and are assigned to their house based on their humanities course registration. Each hall in the dorm has corresponding houses, so when students receive their house assignment, they also learn which residential hall they’ll be living in. 
9. Famous economist Milton Friedman, known for creating the Shareholder Theory and his extensive research into consumption analysis, was a faculty member at UChicago during the majority of his career. Milton was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1976.
10. UChicago holds the world’s largest scavenger hunt: Scav. Items range from finding excerpts from lost literature to road trips just short of 1,000 miles off-campus. In 1999, two physics students built a working, homemade nuclear reactor to check off an item on their list. 
11. Another UChicago student tradition is Kuvia. Short for “Kuviasungnerk,” the Inuit word means “pursuit of happiness.” Kuvia celebrates Winter Quarter through various pre-dawn activities like ultimate frisbee, ballet, crew, and daily sun salutations. It culminates with the walk to Promontory Point on Lake Michigan for the last sun salutations. 
12. Among Milton Friedman, UChicago boasts notable alumni like Kurt Vonnegut, Carl Sagen, James Watson, Bernie Sanders, Amy Klobuchar, and James Comey. 
13. UChicago’s mascot, Phoenix, was chosen for its ability to rise from the ashes. It was chosen to represent the Great Chicago Fire of 1871.