In addition to housing students, the university dormitories -- which bore the brunt of Tuesday's attack -- are serving as temporary homes to families displaced by fighting in Aleppo, Homs and Hama.

CNN: Moscow suspends consular operations in Aleppo

This happened in mid-June when Tehran University's dormitories were stormed at midnight in a raid now being investigated on the orders of Ayatollah Sadeq Larijani, the new head of the justice system, a tough disciplinarian.

ECONOMIST: Iran's dissenting students

Today it is home to the playing fields, dormitories and academic buildings of the best college in the Midwest: Northwestern University.

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