Although the Chittenden, Buckham and Wills residence halls will soon be gone, their stories will remain, thanks to the many memories shared by alumni and students over the past several weeks.

The halls, nicknamed "The Shoeboxes" for their notoriously close quarters, will be razed this spring to make room for a new residence hall and an expansion of the UVM Medical Center.

Read through a sampling of the stories shared below, and submit your own via social media with the hashtag #UVMShoeboxes or online at alumni.uvm.edu/shoeboxes. Those who would like to preserve a more tangible reminder of the residence halls can purchase an authentic Shoebox brick.

Shoebox memories

"Those dorms were a right of passage for many UVM freshman and my first true home away from home." -Chris

"How come I can’t remember what I had for dinner last night but I remember every single moment in that dorm?" -Jay

"I met my college sweetheart and now wife in Buckham. Fast forward 12 years... when our first child was born we were in the top corner delivery room overlooking the campus." -Trevor

"They were the perfect primer for living in my “palatial” apartment in New York." -Natasha

"Living in those tight confines builds character." -Brian

"In ‘63 the UVM farm was in back in the hill where the medical center is today. Some students brought a cow from the farm into Chittenden Hall and it left its mark everywhere." -Roger

"Good ole Buckham. Wish I could hear that fire alarm one last time! But not at 3 a.m.!" -Stacey

"The snowball war of 1998-99. It was like being in Braveheart or something." -Ryan

"I met a dashing young man my first week in Chittenden Hall. Eleven years later I married him with my Chitty roommate by my side!" -Alexandra

"Building igloos as a dorm!" -Sarah

"The year was 1985. Drinking age was 18, so every Friday afternoon our RA would buy a keg of beer and tap it for us to enjoy after a long week of classes!" -David

"Those centrally located, tiny rooms, filled with random roommates are proof that the universe conspires. The friends I made freshman year living on Chitty 3 remain my greatest college friends eight years later." -Matthew

"I met my wife on Buckham 3rd. We met freshman year, were married in 1989 in Ira Allen Chapel, & celebrated our 25th anniversary last year. Thank you 'shoeboxes!'" -Ray

"Rappelling out of 4th floor Chittenden windows to impress our girlfriends." -Peter

PUBLISHED

04-15-2015
University Communications