The Gopher Way

A review of the University tunnel system

By: Lydia Tallarini

Before this winter, I’d never really felt like a Gopher. Of course, it’s our mascot and all that, but I don’t see many similarities between the average University of Minnesota student and a small, pesky rodent. That is until the temperature dropped to the negatives, and I still had to get to my classes—at that point, I didn’t mind what I was called as long as I could stay inside and use the tunnels in the “Gopher Way.”

I think the West Bank tunnels are by far the best. There’s clear signage, and the buildings are connected pretty intuitively, with almost no changes in elevation other than the section near Wilson Library—and that huge hallway with all the lockers is kind of fun! My favorite part, though, is the basement of Ferguson Hall. To get to the creepily curved tunnel between there and Anderson Hall, you need to walk through the basement, where there are tons of practice rooms, usually filled with disparate instruments and sounds.

On East Bank, it’s another story altogether. Ducking into Kolthoff right after getting off the Washington Avenue Bridge is pretty easy, but I’ve never been able to get further than Johnston Hall without having to resurface. Admittedly, that’s partly because of my totally reasonable fear that I’ll enter a horror movie if I ever step foot in a parking lot alone. Still, I think it’s perfectly fair to say that the tunnels on East Bank are more confusing and require climbing a lot more stairs—or even using the elevator (which I’m sure gophers would never think of) if you want to go between Tate and the Mechanical Engineering building. 

Winter’s not-very-gentle push led me to seek refuge in our eclectic tunnel system, and it’s helped me embrace my identity as a gopher. Although most tunnels don’t save me any time, it’s fun to explore, and I appreciate the kind souls who built them and gave us an escape from the wind.