UIUC has a Dairy Queen in Altgeld Hall

Question

Rumors circle the UIUC campus that there is a Dairy Queen in U of I's most infamous buildings. The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences talk about how every student has a different answer on how to get to the Dairy Queen or where it is in the building, simply because there is no Dairy Queen in Altgeld.

Comments

The legend of the Altgeld Dairy Queen is an example of how stories can be created and spread through social media. For me, people make up stories and transmit them because humans are interested in stories and find them compelling, and fascinating.

Despite the fact that the Altgeld Dairy Queen does not exist, the legend has become a part of the University of Illinois folklore, and its persistence is a testament to the power of storytelling. The legend of the Altgeld Dairy Queen is a reminder that stories can indeed have a life of their own, and that they can become a part of our cultural heritage.

Answer 1

This is false, there is no dairy queen in Altgeld hall at UIUC. This lie started off by word of mouth joke and as it spread became an entire prank at the university. 

In fact, the only Dairy Queen location in the Champaign/Urbana area is located at 911 W University Ave in Urbana. This is according to the Dairy Queen Website under locations (https://www.dairyqueen.com/en-us/locations/?s=champaign).

The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences has a webpage in which they explain that social media continues to fuel this Altgeld Hall "legend". Emily Roth, a senior majoring in mathematics and secondary education said “I think people made it up because Altgeld is a super weird and confusing building and it’s easy to get lost. A lot of people don’t spend time in Altgeld so it’s easy to convince people that the rumor is true. I think it was probably made up to confuse freshmen and make Altgeld more fun.”  (https://las.illinois.edu/news/2022-02-22/can-you-tell-me-how-get-dairy-queen) 

Comments

I like that you used the official DQ locations website to verify that the claim is false and also add information from an additional source.

Answer 2

This claim can be refuted in this article:

https://las.illinois.edu/news/2022-02-22/can-you-tell-me-how-get-dairy-queen

Although there are rumours circling social media and the internet of there being a Dairy Queen in Altgeld, this is just not the case. The article published on the University of Illinois website under the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences states that, "The truth is this: Try as you might, just like the supposed pool on the roof in high school or snipes in the woods at scout camp, you won’t ever find a Dairy Queen in Altgeld Hall." This proves the claim wrong and even provides evidence to how the rumours are just pranks and it is an example of satire.

Answer 3

This claim is false.

Allison Winans and Dave Evensen, students at the University of Illinois, wrote an article posted on the university's College of Liberal Arts and Sciences (LAS) website. It is titled, "Can you tell me how to get to dairy queen?" from last year. There they confirm that a DQ inside of Altgeld is not true. The article mentions how "Altgeld is a super weird and confusing building and it's easy to get lost...[the rumor] was probably made up made up to confuse freshmen and make Altgeld more fun." The article also includes examples through photos. There is no evidence of an actual Dairy Queen through photos. The internet, especially reddit which is popular with UIUC students, is where this information mainly comes from. There are no actual university related sites or publications confirming this supposed DQ location. There are just photoshops posted on social media of students claiming there is a Dairy Queen. These posts are meant to be humorous and to keep the "legend" going. It is just a joke/ prank that is continuous for fun.

https://las.illinois.edu/news/2022-02-22/can-you-tell-me-how-get-dairy-queen

Answer 4

This claim is false. On Dairy Queens' official website, all the stores in America are listed. When searching for Dairy Queens in Illinois, there is none at Altgeld Hall. There is a Dairy Queen nearby, however, that location is around a mile away from Altgeld Hall on University Avenue.  

https://www.dairyqueen.com/en-us/locations/?s=champaign  

Answer 5

This claim is false when they say there is a Dairy Queen in Altgeld Hall; however, it is correct when it concludes that there is indeed NO Dairy Queen in Altgeld. The article from the original states, "University officials said they are unaware of any inquiries by the franchise to locate within the building." This goes with my findings on the UIUC's official website. According to the official Maps of Altgeld hall, there are only classrooms in the building - no Dairy Queen. Along with the map of the building, there is currently no documentation of a store being open in this building from Dairy Queen themselves.

 https://math.illinois.edu/building-maps

Answer 6

Although for the past few years there has been fun speculation poking at a supposed Dairy Queen in Altgeld Hall, this claim is unfortunately not true. This claim most likely originated as a joke referencing how extensive and difficult it is to navigate Altgeld Hall. The College of LAS goes into more details on the matter here: https://las.illinois.edu/news/2022-02-22/can-you-tell-me-how-get-dairy-queen

Answer 7

This claim is false. There is no Dairy Queen restaurant in Altgeld hall, or anywhere else on the UIUC campus. This can be proved with the source blowing, listing all of the Dairy Queen locations within Champaign County, IL, which has been provided by the county. 

http://www.city-data.com/locations/DairyQueen/Champaign-County-IL.html

Answer 8

This claim is false. There is no Dairy Queen in Altgeld Hall.

This is a popular topic on the UIUC Reddit page that is utilized to troll students and give them misleading information. People give other students confusing directions on where it's located, and some also allude to their experience of being served at the Dairy Queen. It is a prank among UIUC students, and Altgeld Hall is used as the source since it's already a confusing building to navigate. There are also fake promotions on Instagram to enhance the realness of this assumption. University Officials also commented on the subject, stating that they are unaware of any inquiries by the franchise to locate within the building.

Source: https://las.illinois.edu/news/2022-02-22/can-you-tell-me-how-get-dairy-queen

Answer 9

This is false. There is not a Dairy Queen inside Altgeld Hall at the University of Illinois. This rumor started as a way to "troll" freshmen underclassmen since they don't know the buildings as well yet. According to an article on the UIUC LAS website, “I think people made it up because Altgeld is a super weird and confusing building and it’s easy to get lost. A lot of people don’t spend time in Altgeld so it’s easy to convince people that the rumor is true. I think it was probably made up to confuse freshmen and make Altgeld more fun.”

This makes sense as to why the rumor about a Dairy Queen being in Altgeld Hall has been held up for so long. It's a universal experience as a freshman at UIUC to fall for the rumor, and as you get older, trying to trick others as well.

Answer 10

Although a Dairy Queen inside Altged Hall would probably excite many of the student population, this claim is false.

This prank has been circulating the internet for years due to Altged Hall's maze-like architecture. It derives from a similar prank surrounding Altged Hall in the 1950s-- convincing students to search for the office of a fictional french mathematician named "N. Bourbaki."

https://las.illinois.edu/news/2021-10-27/lost-office-n-bourbaki

Over time, the prank has evolved to keep up with student's interests, but the objective still stays the same: convince students there's something special hiding in the winding, confusing building.

https://las.illinois.edu/news/2022-02-22/can-you-tell-me-how-get-dairy-queen