Named for John Williston Cook, first president of the school from 1899 to 1919, tradition holds that the building does not bear the name Cook because Williston had a more dignified ring. Williston Hall's distinctive tannish-orange bricks were selected by President Cook himself after testing several makes and colors of brick for moisture resistance by placing a sample of each in separate pails of water on a long conference table and weighing each brick after three hours. Originally built and used as a women's dormitory, "Willy" provided such "luxuries" for women students as formal table cloths and fresh cut flowers on cafeteria tables and oriental rugs in the common rooms, and highlighted the social scene on campus with its annual Christmas Ball--a formal dance in which men wore tuxedos and women wore evening dresses. Built and dedicated in 1915 as the first dormitory on campus, the building converted to administrative office space in 1969. Click here for more tours of the Campus at NIU.