Warren Towers is one of the three Boston University

Boston University

Boston University is a private research university located in Boston, Massachusetts. With more than 4,000 faculty members and more than 31,000 students, Boston University is one of the largest private universities in the United States and one of Boston's largest employers...

 dormitories traditionally intended for underclassmen, the others being The Towers

Towers (Boston University)

The Towers is one of the three Boston University dormitories traditionally intended for freshmen and sophomores, the others being Warren Towers and West Campus. The building comprises two towers, each nine floors high and linked at ground level by a single story structure housing common facilities...

 and West Campus

West Campus

West Campus is an area in the westernmost part of Boston University's Charles River campus in Boston, Massachusetts. The area taken up by West Campus takes up most of the footprint of the former grandstand of Braves Field, whose right field pavilion grandstand is currently used as the primary...

. The building is located at central campus, next to the College of Communication (COM) and across from the College of Arts and Sciences (CAS). Housing approximately 1800 students, it is the second-largest non-military dormitory in the country, behind Jester Center

Jester Center

Jester Center or Jester Residence Hall is a co-educational residence hall at The University of Texas at Austin, built in 1969. The residence hall was named after Beauford H...

 at The University of Texas at Austin. The closest MBTA stop is Boston University East on the Green Line "B" Branch, located directly in front of B and C Towers in the center of Commonwealth Avenue.

Original Name

Originally, the building’s name was simply "700," in reference to its 700 Commonwealth Avenue

Commonwealth Avenue

Commonwealth Avenue is an avenue which may refer to:in Australia*Commonwealth Avenue, Canberrain the Philippines*Commonwealth Avenue, Quezon Cityin Singapore*Commonwealth Avenue, Singaporein the United States...

 address. Its three towers were simply called, from east to west (left to right in the above photo), A Tower, B Tower, and C Tower. The building was first occupied in 1966; residents lived in A and B Towers while construction of C Tower was completed (This fact gave birth to the student "legend" that C Tower was constructed of spare parts from A and B towers). The third tower was completed and occupied in 1967.

Gender Segregation

The facility opened before the introduction of coeducational housing at BU, and as such A and B Towers housed women, and C Tower men. This reflected the high female-to-male ratio, a statistic that BU is still known for today. Although the building is now coeducational, some floors remain exclusively female. When in use by the university's summer programs (Academy of Media Production, High School Honors, Summer Challenge, Upward Bound

Upward Bound

Upward Bound is a federally funded educational program within the United States. The program is one of a cluster of programs referred to as TRIO, all of which owe their existence to the federal Higher Education Act of 1965. Upward Bound programs are implemented and monitored by the United States...

, Upward Bound Math Science, Visual Arts’ Summer Institute, Summer Theatre Institiute, Program in Mathematics for Young Scientists), Fairfield Tower is exclusively male, while Marshall Tower is exclusively female.

Renaming

In 1976 the building was rechristened "Warren Towers" as a tribute to three generations of the Warren family at Boston University: William Fairfield Warren (the University's first president), William Marshall Warren (a Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences; son of William Fairfield Warren), and Shields Warren (a famous physician; son of William Marshall Warren and grandson of William Fairfield Warren). Additionally, each tower was renamed in honor of one of the men; A Tower is now Fairfield Tower, B Tower is Marshall Tower, and C Tower is Shields Tower. Bronze plaques in the main lobby commemorate the three men. Although these are their formal names, it is rare to hear anyone refer to them in this way; the A/B/C convention is far more popular.

Layout

Warren Towers, 18 stories in height, is the largest dormitory on the Boston University campus. Its three towers sit atop a four-story base structure. The first three floors (and a basement) are a university parking facility; the fourth floor contains the dorm's lobby, food service and other amenities.

Each of the tower’s 14 residential floors house approximately 40 residents, including the Resident Assistant (RA). Most floors are divided into 18 doubles, four singles (including one for the RA), and a quad, though there are exceptions to this. For example, some floors in C Tower are home to faculty-in-residence, for whom small apartments have been created from the existing floor plan. Almost all floors have two shared bathrooms (one for each sex), though some single sex floors have a single bathroom. In addition, all floors have a common room, except floors 5A and 5B, where a small laundry room is provided, and floor 17 of tower B, which has been converted to a boiler room for the facility. Like other campus housing facilities throughout campus, some floors are designated for certain schools. For example, the 11th and 14th floors of C Tower house only communication students.

Nicknames

A variety of nicknames have been applied to this facility over the years. The most infamous of these is "The Zoo." Legend has it that this moniker was arrived at when unknown students painted a line on the bottom of the building’s street number outside, changing "700" to "ZOO." The paint was washed off, but the name stuck.

Despite this colorful tale, the building is most commonly referred to simply as "Warren."

Retail Space

Originally the building presented one long blank wall along the 700 block of Commonwealth Avenue, with the exception of the plate-glass entryway leading to the escalator banks. One of the initiatives undertaken early in the tenure of President John Silber

John Silber

John Robert Silber is an American academician and former candidate for public office. From 1971 to 1996 he was President of Boston University and from 1996 to 2003 Chancellor of the University. Since 2003 he has been its President Emeritus. In 1990, Silber took a leave of absence from the...

 was to carve retail space out of the building at street level, to generate income. Today retail establishments accessible at street-level include Bank of America

Bank of America

Bank of America Corporation, an American multinational banking and financial services corporation, is the second largest bank holding company in the United States by assets, and the fourth largest bank in the U.S. by market capitalization. The bank is headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina...

 and Citizens Bank ATMs

Automated teller machine

An automated teller machine or automatic teller machine, also known as a Cashpoint , cash machine or sometimes a hole in the wall in British English, is a computerised telecommunications device that provides the clients of a financial institution with access to financial transactions in a public...

, Subway

Subway (restaurant)

Subway is an American restaurant franchise that primarily sells submarine sandwiches and salads. It is owned and operated by Doctor's Associates, Inc. . Subway is one of the fastest growing franchises in the world with 35,519 restaurants in 98 countries and territories as of October 25th, 2011...

, Starbucks

Starbucks

Starbucks Corporation is an international coffee and coffeehouse chain based in Seattle, Washington. Starbucks is the largest coffeehouse company in the world, with 17,009 stores in 55 countries, including over 11,000 in the United States, over 1,000 in Canada, over 700 in the United Kingdom, and...

, a City Convenience store, and a FedEx Kinko's outlet. Taco Bell

Taco Bell

Taco Bell is an American chain of fast-food restaurants based in Irvine, California. A subsidiary of Yum! Brands, Inc., which serves American-adapted Mexican food. Taco Bell serves tacos, burritos, quesadillas, nachos, other specialty items, and a variety of "Value Menu" items...

 closed in April 2008.

Parking

Despite the ample parking space afforded by the multileveled garage in the lower section of the building, student parking is not permitted. The exception to this is for a short time around move-in and move-out periods when parking is free and the elevator banks are permitted to drop to the 3rd floor of the garage, bypassing security and easing the moving experience.

At all other times parking is for faculty and staff by permit from the Office of Parking Services, or on a cash basis (the University leverages its close proximity to Fenway Park

Fenway Park

Fenway Park is a baseball park near Kenmore Square in Boston, Massachusetts. Located at 4 Yawkey Way, it has served as the home ballpark of the Boston Red Sox baseball club since it opened in 1912, and is the oldest Major League Baseball stadium currently in use. It is one of two "classic"...

 during baseball season to generate income in this way). Overnight parking is forbidden.

The Big U

Neil Stephenson's satirical first novel, The Big U

The Big U

The Big U is Neal Stephenson's first published novel, a satire of campus life.- Plot :The story chronicles the disillusionment of a number of young intellectuals as they encounter the realities of the higher education establishment parodied in the story...

, was loosely based on his experiences in Warren Towers, and is set in a fictional dormitory similar to Warren — with eight towers instead of three, but connected at a commons above ground level.

External links

• "Rite Of Passage: Moving Into A College Dorm", a September 7, 2010 story about move-in day at Warren Towers