Shimer Students and Faculty Journey to Mount Carroll
Dec 03, 2025
A van load of North Central students and faculty traveled to Mount Carroll, Ill., on Nov. 12 for a ribbon-cutting ceremony to open Shimer Square, a new mixed-use community developed on the former Shimer College campus.
Shimer Square includes apartments, a childcare center, and plans for a microbrewery and mobile coffee shop in buildings where Shimer College students once lived and learned. Spearheaded by the Illinois Housing Development Authority (IHDA) and the Illinois Economic Growth Cooperation, Shimer Square is intended to bring new affordable housing, jobs and economic vitality to the area.
“This campus holds a profound history, and today it opens a new chapter, one filled with opportunity and hope,” said Kristin Faust, IHDA executive director, according to a press release about the grand opening.
Founded in 1853, Shimer College moved from Mount Carroll in 1978 — first to Waukegan, Ill., and then to Chicago, before North Central acquired Shimer College’s Shimer Great Books program in 2017.
Dr. Stuart Patterson, chair of the Shimer Great Books School at North Central College, said the journey to Mount Carroll “helped strengthen the students’ sense that they’ve joined a storied tradition of learning in, and through, community. Shimer has long been a moveable feast of ideas, so it’s important to remember our origins, which are now being so beautifully restored.”
Megan Tai ’27, a Shimer Great Books major, was one of eight students who made the trip. The North Central delegation attended the ribbon-cutting and met Shimer College alumni Ed Juracek S’70, Alan Rosenberg S’72, John Montes S’75, April Stosur S’77, and Martin Manning S’78. The group enjoyed lunch at Charlie’s II, an establishment that once was called “Poffy’s” — a popular local hangout where Shimer students would gather.
Tai said, “It was heartwarming to listen to the downtown business owners, chat with Shimer alumni, and know that not only is the educational aspect of Shimer still alive today — but the strong sense of community and traits that make Shimerians distinct and quirky is something we all share despite the generational gap.”
Tai noted how the group passed the time during the drive to Mount Carroll: “We entertained ourselves by reading Shakespearean insults,” she said. “All I can say is that it was a very Shimerian thing to do.”