Harold’s Chicken Shack first opened on June 22, 1950, the brainchild of a black southerner named Harold Pierce.
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Campus coffee shops
Without profit in mind, these eateries are often the cheapest places to grab a bite to eat on campus.
Goodnight and goodluck
Let Grey City, the Maroon’s quarterly magazine, take you back to the glory days of Hyde Park night life. Although Jimmy’s Woodlawn Tap is still around, gone are the days of Saul Bellow and Dylan Thomas raising their glasses there, and 50 years have passed since Second City—and improv comedy itself—was founded in the bar’s back room.
A matter of (mis)understanding
When Mayor Rahm Emanuel entered talks with the University on Hyde Park development and city permits, what emerged was the Memorandum of Understanding: a nine-page document that outlines a collaboration between the city and the University on $1.7 billion worth of capital projects. But despite its heft, the MOU is already encountering rough scrutiny from the community.
Logan on the rise
Standing like an obelisk just south of the Midway, the Logan Arts Center is receiving finishing touches before its opening in the spring. Although administrators say that the building will be a—not the—center for arts on campus, the resources it provides are bound to make it dwarf any other creative space at the U of C.
Positively 53rd street
The Harper Court development promises some additions that would be normal for any college area—a movie theater, hotel, and 24-hour diner, just to name a few. But what’s unique about the project isn’t just that it centralizes all of these necessities; it’s bringing them all to Hyde Park for the first time.
The Tao of Zhang
Basketball and Philosophy with Chicago Basketball League commissioner Taotao Zhang
The Future of Fermilab
Director Pier Oddone on life after the Tevatron.
The Yellow Door Chronicles
On the corner of the campus, a school for special-needs students reaches a turning point in its history.
Greg Nance: the paper Doll!
How do you get started? Just print out this page, cut him out (be careful!), and then the fun begins!
The Way Things Work »
Fast food (not that kind)
Chicagoans have been pushing for years for a vibrant food truck community similar to those in New York and L.A.
The Way Things Work: Opening a small business in Hyde Park
From documents like Chicago’s “3 Simple Steps to Obtain a Business License” (which actually lists 10 not-so-simple steps) to maneuvering through eight different city, state, and federal agencies, Grey City traces the paths of several successful small businesses in Hyde Park.
Graphic Sex
The odd saga of UChicago Hookups
The Way Things Work: Tuition Hikes
As competition for top faculty, staff, and students has increased, so has tuition.
The Way Things Work: Lab School admissions
A storied history and a reputation as a feeder for the nation’s top colleges make the Lab School a highly appealing choice for students and parents. Getting Lab to choose you, though, is another story.
The Way Things Work: Nuclear waste
The U of C’s nuclear experiments—as well as modern efforts to clean them up—trace their roots to a killjoy administrator, an Italian physicist, and a gang of singing teenagers.
The Way Things Work: Land ownership
The University’s recent investment in Washington Park, and the community’s tense reaction, raise an important question: Just how much land does the University own?
The Way Things Work: The endowment
As the University’s endowment has reached record levels of growth, it has come under increased scrutiny from all directions. In Washington, the Senate has considered placing caps on endowment spending for the richest institutions, while closer to home, graduate students on campus have called for more endowment dollars to be spent on their financial aid. What is an endowment, and how does it work?
Q & A »
Food for thought with Betty Jo Nichols
The founder of the Homemaking Skills Institute talks origins, her partnership with the Pritzker School, and favorite recipes.
Building the future with Steve Wiesenthal
University Architect Steve Wiesenthal gives his say on the U of C’s Neo-Gothic foundations and his vision for its state of the art future.
The Study of Studying
Sociology professor Andrew Abbott sits down with Grey City.
Q&A with John Cochrane, part two
More of Grey City’s interview with the Booth School economist.
Q&A with John Cochrane part III
More of Grey City’s interview with John Cochrane
Q&A with John Cochrane
Why he loves economics and the U of C—but not the talking heads on cable news.
Q & A with Paul Sally
The math department’s infamous pirate prof talks about meeting Gwynyth Paltrow, pulverizing cell phones, and achieving Peep immortality.
Richard Epstein lays down the law
After 40 years of teaching and scholarship, drawing quick, frank conclusions is in Epstein’s nature. The outspoken Law School professor takes aim at Vice President Biden, his political opponents, and his most famous former colleague.
Q&A with Bert Cohler
The comparative human development professor weighs in on student stress, “that kid,” and the prospect of a University institute devoted to Sigmund Freud.
Full J. Z. Smith interview
J.Z. Smith refuses to use the Internet, but you can still read the full text of this two-hour interview here.
Interview with J. Z. Smith
A word of advice for anyone hoping to contact Jonathan Zittell Smith before he returns to campus next fall: Use the mail slot. The religious studies professor— better known as J.Z.—doesn’t pick up the phone and has never “seen the Internet.” In a two-hour interview, Smith weighed in on chain smoking, dead religions, and the Babylonian Talmud.