With rare exceptions, most buildings on the Santa Fe campus have at least one balcony, and most have many. This includes residence halls, where 85 percent of halls have at least one balcony that students can access. Some balconies are large and some are small. Some are private and most are shared. All provide views of open skies, mountains so close you can almost touch them, or trails winding right up to the edge of your building. The result? A campus-wide culture where gatherings of all kinds happen high in the sky—from reading groups and dinner parties to band practices and tutor-student gatherings. In short, the Santa Fe campus cherishes our balcony culture.

Courtyards are another centerpiece of residential life on the Santa Fe campus. Commonly equipped with benches and tables, they are great places to read, work on mathematical proofs, and hold study groups on your favorite books. They are also great social gathering spots. If you’re craving a game of Pandemic, chess, or Dungeons and Dragons, head out to the courtyard with friends and you’re likely to draw a crowd. Need to stretch out for band practice? Accordions and banjos are more than welcome here.

The Coffee Shop is located next to St. John’s renowned Bookstore, and students often bounce between the two. While the Bookstore offers books, swag, and essential supplies, the Coffee Shop features comfy couches to tuck into and read.

Open until 11:30 p.m., the Coffee Shop offers much more than coffee. Each day, the breakfast and lunch menus change daily in order to provide a diversity of cuisine. A wide variety of drinks and packaged snacks are also on offer, including free naturally flavored iced teas and waters. And our coffee comes to us care of the renowned Ikonic Coffee, a roasting house and local coffee chain that is owned and operated by a St. John’s alum.

COFFEE SHOP HOURS DURING ACADEMIC YEAR

Monday–Friday
7:30 a.m.–11:30 p.m.

Sunday
12–11:30 p.m.

The Cave is the late-night option for night owls—which is what most Johnnies are. Run by students and located on the bottom floor of Pritzker Student Center, The Cave is our student-run performance venue where singers, bands, stand-up comics, poets, and more test out their latest works on a warm crowd of fellow Johnnies and friends. You might also catch some serious online gaming competitions, fierce board game rivalries, and a regular crowd of musicians engaging in the opposite of competition: jamming for the sake of jamming alone.

It might be sacrilegious to talk about our beloved Bookstore as just another place to get some goodies, as the Bookstore is the most hallowed place on campus after Meem Library and our seminar rooms. But it’s also the best place to find a wide variety of basics, from chocolate and chapstick to sweatshirts and water bottles. Located next to the Coffee Shop, it’s an easy stop on your way to get coffee before class, and a lively one where friends often gather in conversation (and alumni return for the best swag around).