This piece was first published in The Phoenix‘s Winter 2026 print issue. Read the full issue at uchicagophoenix.com/magazine.

I first found out about roofing as a freshman. It was a Saturday night during O-Week, and I was attending one of those classic UChicago apartment parties: red and green LED lights, Spotify playlist on the Roku, UC IDs lined up on the beer pong table. At some point during the evening, a guy started going around the living room, gathering people to go “roofing,” which, as explained by the older girl next to me, entailed going to the quad and climbing the buildings to get on the roof (hence “roofing”). My own interest in participating ended with her explanation, but I was fascinated by those who did it. As a chronic non- risk taker, I couldn’t imagine wanting to scale a fire escape in the middle of the night while moderately intoxicated. Was this something that many people did at UChicago, or was it just some niche social circle into which I had fallen? 

My curiosity took me to Google, where I found, buried in Reddit threads, evidence that long before the administration started fighting UChicago’s “Where Fun Goes to Die” reputation with $1 milkshakes, students were finding their own ways to have fun while slogging through the quarter. I then interviewed three UChicago alumni who roofed during their time here. Those interviews, along with the Reddit threads, paint roofing as a widespread campus subculture. Whether you know it or not, roofers walk amongst us in a variety of social groups. They are student athletes, frat guys, and anyone looking to enjoy an evening admiring the view from atop Ryerson. If you’re lucky, you may catch a glimpse of them gallivanting across the top of the Reynold’s Club on a Saturday night, but chances are, you’ve never even thought to look. 

Starting to roof is easier than joining many RSOS. There is no organized group. Maybe you are a fan of Urban Exploration and start roofing with no further instruction. Or maybe, as was the case for me and my sources, you hear about it from older students. Like me, two of my sources (who spoke on condition of anonymity) learned about roofing at an apartment party, then tagged along with a larger group. They first climbed Ryerson, and in the years following, compiled an impressive list of conquests: Bartlett, Rosenwald, Harper (and its adjoining buildings), the Reynolds Club, Mansueto, North, and Rockefeller. My third source, Brian McManus (AB ’23), creator of the blog UChicago’s Secret Places, told me that his roofing started when he heard an older student in his dorm mention the steam tunnels. It “sent [him] down a rabbit hole,” he reports. McManus found several of the same Reddit comments that I did in my research, inspiring him to explore campus and create a blog to compile this information.

Whether you know it or not, roofers walk amongst us in a variety of social groups

Roofers do it for various reasons. One class of 2025 grad explained that “it was just something my friends were doing, so I tagged along and thought it was cool.” Another, from the class of 2024, said, “I’ll quote the famous climber of Mt. Everest and say, ‘Because it’s there.” “When you’re grinding through classes day after day and kind of falling into a schedule, sometimes just getting out there, seeing things in a different light, and having a different perspective is calming,” he added. 

Because of how I first heard of roofing, I always took it to be a spontaneous group activity. However, both McManus and Alum ’24 explained that they often roofed solo and planned out their adventures. Before his first time summiting Mansueto, Alum ’24 created a map in MS Paint of where UChicago security officers are stationed at night. Why? He wanted to find the best method of escape if he were to trigger the silent alarm supposedly atop the dome. It turned out his worries were misplaced. When he eventually made the climb, he found “it was the easiest thing in the world.” 

What has always kept me from roofing, and what was ever-present in my interviews, was the threat of punishment. 

When I asked Alum ’25 for roofing advice, he suggested that the aspiring roofer lap the building to look out for security. However, it is unclear what the University will actually do if you are caught on the roof of a building. The Residence Hall Regulations and Policies cite “going out onto or accessing any roof or roofing structure of any residence hall, dining commons, or fire escape” as one of multiple “Dangerous Acts” that are prohibited. Also listed as a “Dangerous Act” is “climbing on scaffolding.” No specific consequences are listed, but one item on the University’s 2022- 23 disciplinary report says that a student was placed on disciplinary probation for six quarters for climbing “scaffolding on a University building” and being found on the roof. I spoke with a current freshman who said that during O-Week, her Resident Head said that climbing buildings is punishable by expulsion. Meanwhile, a sign outside Mansueto reads, “CLIMBING PROHIBITED. Violators will be subject to a $500 fine, University disciplinary action, and/or criminal penalties.” There are, then, multiple possible punishments ranging in severity. 

Despite these daunting guidelines, the consequences for roofing are not heavily enforced. Alum ’25 describes the existence of a strike system. When he and a group of friends were caught climbing Ryerson, a security officer saw them as they came down and dished them a first strike. The officer did not take their names, and they suffered no consequences for this incident. Alum ’24 says that when his friends were caught climbing during Summer Breeze, campus security took their names and said that they would refer them to the area dean, but no one followed up. It seems as if the consequences for roofing are mostly empty promises. One wonders what was so egregious about the crime reported on the 2022-23 disciplinary report to warrant six quarters of disciplinary probation. 

Roofing may begin as a way to let loose, but it eventually becomes a way of forming lasting memories. Alum 25 told me that Bartlett was one of his favorite buildings to climb because he could see not only the rest of campus, but also through the glass ceiling into the building itself. McManus described Ryerson as having a special place in his heart. “Right after we were told we were getting sent home in spring 2020, my friends and I climbed it together, and we had an emotional moment as we all took in the fact that we wouldn’t see each other in person for months,” he told me. The view from atop the buildings is only a bonus; the real draw is human connection and shared experiences. The only thing that may threaten the persistence of roofing on campus is the unorthodox way in which it is passed down: by word of mouth. Students seem to find it, or rather have it find them, even if they aren’t looking. But even if you can’t manage to get atop Bartlett, there is always the city of Chicago-the lights of downtown sparkling in the distance, students walking up and down University Ave dressed up for parties, and, to the east, the vast, inky expanse of Lake Michigan, perhaps a glimpse of how the universe appeared before creation.