University of Utah Installs Cry Closet for Stressed Students

A graduate art student at the University of Utah has installed a closet on campus for stressed students to cry in following final exams.

The “cry closet,” an art project by graduate student Nemo Miller, provides a space for students to cry privately on campus. The closet is equipped with several stuffed animals. There are two lights that can be adjusted to meet the student’s specific preference. On the closet door, there is a list of rules. According to the rules, students must knock before entering and may spend no more than 10 minutes in the closet.

The art installation went viral on Twitter earlier this week when a University of Utah student took to social media to make fun of the “cry closet.”

“So my school installed a cry closet in the library LMFAOOOOOOOOO what is higher education,” the user tweeted. The tweet has received over 160,000 retweets and over 453,000 likes.

An article from the University of Utah’s student newspaper argues that the installation has helped stressed students out as they go through final exams. In an interview with the student newspaper, Miller explained that the closet was designed to provide stressed students with a space to feel safe.

“The initial idea of when I was rationalizing why I wanted to make a safe space really came from the idea of me personally graduating and trying to provide myself a space of safety and I was like, I guarantee other students need that too,” Miller stated.