Tunnels

The Tunnels collectively refer to various networks of underground tunnels throughout the RPI campus. Most famously, they refer to the tunnels that connect the Low Center for Industrial Innovation, the Darrin Communications Center, the Jonsson Engineering Center, and the Jonsson-Rowland Science Center, although there are other tunnels throughout the campus as well.

Art & Culture

Prior to 2025, the tunnels were typically painted over at the beginning of every semester, but otherwise were untouched. As a result, students would often draw artwork onto the sides of the tunnels, and they became a lively center of student self-expression.

In 2024, the Tunnels were host to a mock "funeral" of a former Officer of the Union after joking rumors circulated that they had died. They spoke at their own funeral, and posters and flowers remained up in the Tunnels for months thereafter.

In Fall 2025, the scheduled painting-over of the tunnels included the addition of security cameras. Several students attempting to draw on the tunnel walls were approached by the Department of Public Safety ordering them to stop. Afterwards, the tunnel walls went largely untouched, and their role in promoting student art had ended. As part of the Spring 2026 GM Week campaigns, a candidate placed blank posters up in the walls to allow people to draw once more. After the election, the Senate Communications and Engagement Committee placed more posters on the walls.

Gallery

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  "The painters work fast but we work faster" was a common phrase in tunnel graffiti.
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  A short essay written on the side of the tunnels.
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  An advertisement for the now-defunct newspaper The Student Approach.