As Southwestern braves the ongoing pandemic, we’re all doing our parts to keep the community safe, and that means staying home and familiarizing ourselves with the ins and outs of distance learning and remote work. Students, faculty, and staff are often turning to Zoom video conferencing to conduct courses and meetings online. And now, although we can’t be together at our campus home, you can bring campus home to you—by changing your Zoom background to scenic images of our favorite SU landmarks. 

From the historic Cullen Building and the verdant Academic Mall to our favorite Bradford pear blossoms in the spring, we have a background that will help bring Southwestern to you. And it’s the perfect way to hide those parts of your room or office that you’d rather not share, such as your eclectic collection of unpaired socks or that tall stack of dirty dishes you’ve been putting off (we don’t judge!).

The process is easier than preventing Zoombombers from interrupting your class with cat photos! To use one of our backgrounds, download one of your favorite campus pics from this shared folder, and set it as your Zoom virtual background for classes, meetings, or virtual happy hours. Just open “Settings” in Zoom, click “Virtual Background,” and add the image as your background.

Zoom Backgrounds

Share your screenshots with us using #SUnity—we want to see how your Southwestern-fabulous “new” digs look!

And if you think we’re missing some iconic shots, send us yours, or request a specific photo @SouthwesternU.


Stay up to date on Southwestern’s latest developments and announcements during the COVID-19 pandemic at southwestern.edu/emergency.