Miami Dade College - North Campus — Attraction in Opa-locka

If Dante were alive today, he wouldn’t have needed imagination for his Inferno. He could’ve just audited a semester at Miami Dade College North Campus.

Let’s start with the obvious: the place is a monument to brutalism, a Cold War block of concrete so joyless it makes Soviet prisons look cozy. Every angle screams, “Give up now.” The buildings look like they were designed by architects who hated students — giant slabs of gray, windows slit like rifle ports, hallways echoing with despair. Even the pigeons look depressed.

I was here in the late 1990s as part of the Honors Program, back when Carter Burrus ran the show. Now Burrus was called a “living legend.” Translation: a man with a God complex who thrived on condescension. To many, he gave a chance. To me, he smirked, “You’ll never make it.” Well, Carter, here I am decades later, one of your more successful students, and you’re a footnote in the history of a campus that looks like the set of a Cold War dystopia. Congratulations, you were wrong — spectacularly, gloriously wrong. If arrogance were an Olympic sport, you’d have a gold medal and still find a way to belittle the silver medalist.

The registration process? Then and now, it’s a bureaucratic death march. Endless lines, blank stares, paperwork shuffled like it’s 1952, and nobody ever knows what’s going on. It’s designed to beat the will to learn right out of you.

The parking? Forget it. Pure hell. Spaces vanish faster than financial aid, and circling those lots is like auditioning for a demolition derby. I still remember when a kid was found dead in one of those lots. That’s the kind of history this place carries — not triumph, but tragedy.

And let’s talk about the area: for the past 30 years it’s been sketchy at best. Step outside campus boundaries and you’re reminded immediately that MDC North wasn’t built to inspire—it was built to contain. Back then, even staff referred to it as “the Black campus,” which says everything about Miami’s ugly history of segregation and how this place became shorthand for inequity.

The only bright spot? I met my first love here. That’s it. The one redeeming memory in a sea of concrete, bureaucracy, and Carter Burrus’s sneer.

This place doesn’t deserve two stars, or even one. It deserves a demolition order. But Yelp won’t let me rate zero, so here’s your single star. Not for the campus, not for Burrus, not for the architecture. That one star is for my first love — because at least something beautiful grew out of this brutal slab of hopelessness.

Miami Dade College North Campus: where ambition goes to die, where bureaucracy thrives, and where arrogance once strutted under the banner of “Honors.”

One star. Burn it down...

North Campus feels like the forgotten stepchild of the college. It’s the most isolated location, and if your major is here, good luck battling Miami traffic to get to a place with the least to offer. The architecture is cold and oppressive—it used to be a military complex, which explains the vibe. Compared to campuses like Kendall, which feel lively and colorful, North is just grey, bleak, and dead.

Student life is basically nonexistent. The only greenery is around the lake; the rest is just concrete. Bathrooms are disgusting—roaches, awful smells, and zero upkeep. One men’s room has had a sink ripped out for over a year and nothing’s been done. A friend had to hide in a stall once because someone came in screaming for five straight minutes.

You’ll see homeless people or others regularly using the gravel pits as bathrooms. One guy even presses his bare ass to the wall and takes a dump. It’s surreal. Meanwhile, the actual restrooms are so filthy they might be worse.

Public safety is laughable. A 7-year-old once fell into a gravel pit, broke his arm and got a concussion. The officer arrived, looked directly at the family, then asked us “Where’s the kid?” before riding off on his Segway. My friend broke his spine falling down stairs, and the officer on scene refused to help until he signed a form—while he literally couldn’t move.

You’ll sometimes see people tweaking out, arguing loudly, or harassing students. One guy, claiming to be a famous rapper, slapped a student’s coffee out of his hand just for looking at him, then tried to intimidate a staff member. Public safety showed up long after the fact, as usual.

Building 1 is a bureaucratic maze. If your issue isn’t simple, you’ll get passed from office to office until you’re back where you started—unless you escalate to someone’s boss. One department spent weeks trying to get their A/C fixed and walls painted. Nothing happened until a high-up got mad and forced it through. Only then did workers come—visibly annoyed—to actually fix things.

Bottom line: North Campus is a mess. And they wonder why enrollment’s dropping. If you can, go to a different campus for anything important—advising, bursar, registration—anywhere they...

Well let me tell you. It was amazing!!! I went to enroll in high risk driving. It’s a driving class due to some minor fender benders I’ve had. To make a long story short this is what I encountered. Miami-Dade North Campus was amazing. I met a gentleman by the name of Patrick he was a great man. He works there and is a custodian for the school. Personable and charming. Then I met the lady from the information desk. She was so sweet and always maintained a huge smile. She send me to the continuing education center and I met a kind lady and next to her desk was a young man equally as kind. They directed me to the 8th building (school of justice). She also offered to make a phone call to the building before walking over there as sometimes it was hard to get in touch with them. Very professional and kind. I met Hector he’s a security guard and he was informative and showed me to another office. This was the assessment center were I met Griselda. She took the time to call Allison. She is the secretary for the school of justice. Then I met BOB from vehicle of operations. He was so amazing. He gave me a bag of double baked pretzels in a ziplock bag. What a great gift. They were amazing. He was so charismatic. Alyson send me to the bursars for a payment. Her name is Irmina Diaz. Nice lady that told me to take the receipt back to Alyson for more instructions. As I was walking over I met Raul he was campus service. Hard worker and making those lawns look nice. He directed me back to the building as I took a wrong turn. Allison then came out again and gave me final instructions. I also met the teacher (RILEY) she’s the one in charge of training and education for aspiring law enforcement officers. You can really tell this lady takes her job seriously. She was down because she wanted them all to do great. What a sign of true professionalism in every field and service in this school. Not only The employees but also the students. Many blessings to all these teachers,students,faculties and staff of every level and...