Подземные тоннели Университета Небраски соединяют общежития с столовой и служат укрытием от суровых зим

Editor's note: This article has been edited to reflect that students only have access to the tunnels connected to Harper-Schramm-Smith. The rest of the tunnels on UNL's campus discussed in the article are not accessible to students or the public. What many University of Nebraska-Lincoln students don’t realize when walking across campus to and from the dining halls each day is that an underground tunnel system runs right beneath their feet. Rumors about these tunnels have circulated across campus for years, ranging from ghost stories to questions about whether students are even allowed to use them. In reality, these tunnels serve a practical purpose and have been a part of residence hall life for a long time. The tunnels connect the Harper, Schramm and Smith residence halls to the Harper Dining Center, allowing residents to travel between buildings without going outside during harsh weather conditions. “There are some folks that think that students aren’t supposed to be down there, which is absolutely not true,” said Rob Andrews, the Associate Director of Community Experience. According to Andrews, the tunnels were built to provide students with a sheltered route to the dining center during Nebraska’s cold winters. “They were built with the intention of being a way for people to get from their hall to the dining center during the bad weather,” Andrews said. For many students, the tunnels are a convenient way to avoid walking outdoors. “I’ve heard people say they’re haunted, but that’s about it,” Jaina Johnson, a junior advertising and public relations major and resident assistant at Harper Hall, said. Johnson said she has used the tunnels when the weather made outdoor travel less appealing, and that the tunnels are especially useful during the winter months. But, the tunnels offer more than just a pathway between buildings. “There is also a music room down there where students can practice music without the noise disturbing others,” Johnson said. Over the years, the tunnels have developed a unique identity of their own. Andrews said the walls were originally plain white but grew more colorful over the years. “Until 2005, the walls were all white. It was around 2005 when they inserted the murals, and so now, they paint a couple of new murals each year,” Andrews said. In addition to helping students, the tunnels help university staff navigate between facilities and perform maintenance work more efficiently. “They also allow our maintenance staff to get from the maintenance headquarters to the basement of Harper and Harper dining, to get from that basement over to the buildings,” Andrews said. The tunnel system is a part of a large network of underground passageways beneath campus buildings. “A lot of the buildings, like the Union, have tunnels underneath that are basically access tunnels for different services, primarily the steam and the water, and sometimes electric and stuff like that,” Andrews said. While the tunnels were originally built to help students cope with Nebraska’s harsh winters, they have become an iconic part of residence life for many students. Whether it serves as a shortcut to the dining hall, a route between buildings for maintenance or a place to view student-created murals, the underground tunnels continue to benefit UNL students and staff underneath campus.