Merrimack College is a small, Division I, Augustian Catholic institution that sits in the quaint town of North Andover. Despite its unassuming appearance, there are some things that wouldn’t necessarily be categorized as normal if this was any other large school like UMass or Alabama. Here are some things that are so specific to Merrimack that they would send another student at another school into a coma.
- The Quad
The Quad is the preferred location where students gather when it is nice out and can enjoy their “milk and cookies” (as our president says) with a couple friends and some speakers. By a couple friends, I mean a large amount of the student population. The Quad is located on the far backside of campus in front of Senior Apartments, which is a housing option for seniors only. The Quad used to have grass but since it was used so much, a majority of that is gone and students often function in mud and dirt.
- Route 114
Route 114 is a main highway that connects the Engineering Center and Royal Crest Estates to the main campus. This main state highway is special to Merrimack due to the fact that students that live in Royal Crest have to cross it on a daily basis which can sometimes be a challenge. If you are looking at this from a frequent use of 114 students can often be seen bolting across with or without the walk sign, and even with the walk sign on cars sometimes don’t stop, it’s truly a gamble.
- Royal Crest
Next on the list is the ever so lovely Royal Crest Estates. This makes the list because students are put to live with the greater North Andover community. Some buildings are filled with a mix of students and families but two can be found filled solely with students. Coming from an Resident Advisor point of view, Royal houses the majority of the older students who like to “hang out with their large number of friends”. However, these gatherings get bopped faster than on campus due to the local police answering rather than the RAs.
- Registered Guests
This one refers to the fact that in order for a person who does not go to Merrimack College to spend the night on campus, they need to be registered. I feel like this one has its pros such as ensuring safety but the weird part is people who are commuters also need to be registered even though they also are paying to go to the school just not spending the night and this registration has to be done 72 hours before this person arrives.
- Merri the Comfort Dog
Merri is a cutie. One of the campus favorite police officers, Chuck, has a comfort dog in which you can come visit your room and you can play with her for a period of time. Merri also makes appearances at athletic events and even has her own instagram account(@merri_mcpd).
- Security Booth
Unlike some campuses, we are not completely open. We’re not necessarily closed, but in order to drive onto campus you have to show your school ID to a person at the booth who will then give you a thumbs up or not to drive onto campus. Most of the time the person in the box is a student worker in the criminology/ social justice department.
- Bowling Alley in the Church
We aren’t just any Catholic School, we’re a cool Catholic school. Yes, you read that right. We do have a bowling alley in the church. The Church building has been on campus for as long as Merrimack has been around (since 1947 to be exact),and in recent years Merrimack decided to redo the entire church and make it a function hall in addition to using the space for masses during the week. However, if you want to hang out and grab a bite to eat with friends or roll some strikes, students can also find a dining option and the six lane bowling alley to the right of the church doors.
- Library Floors
Our beloved McQuade Library is three floors high with a basement level. The basement holds books that are organized in a couple different ways, but also with some seating and a large lecture hall. The next floor is the ground floor where the main entry ways are along with MackMart, which is a gas station-type convenience store, and a mini Starbucks. The Second level is the quiet level (keyword: quiet). The ceiling is open to the third level which is more of a group work/dynamic floor. If you don’t get what I’m putting down the quiet floor leads to the loud floor so if we were to do PEMDAS the second floor being quiet kind of cancels out.