Over the course of summer 2024, construction workers removed student mailboxes from Reamer Campus Center. The mailboxes had been present in the campus center since 1975, and the mailbox area is now a wall.
When the mailboxes were built, they were a critical aspect of student life; students received their class schedules, letters from home, and campus event flyers. However, the need for the mailboxes decreased with the invention of the internet. Today, students receive class schedules and grades online, can text and call families on their cell phones, and see advertisements from campus events on social media.
In recent years, the mail room has mostly seen packages from online retailers such as Amazon and Shein, not letters. The mail room receives an average of 600 packages per day and 3,350 packages per week. Students are sent an email notification to pick up their package, unless it can fit into their mailbox. Students living in theme houses also frequently send packages to their houses because they are off campus houses and able to accept packages.
Until the 2023-2024 school year, each student was assigned a mailbox for 4 years. Beginning this year, students will have to address their packages based on their dorm room. Packages will still be delivered to the mailroom, but they will be tracked by a student’s dorm number instead of their mailbox. Letters sent to students will be picked up in the same manner as packages.
The area where the mailboxes were previously located is now a wall behind the 807 Deli and the mailroom. This gives the mail room more space to hold the packages it receives on a daily basis.
Union’s mailroom is open from Monday to Friday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. It is recommended that students update their addresses on sites that they frequently receive mail from, and packages with incorrect addresses will be delayed. Students should also spell out the names of the houses they live in.
