After a trying year, the spirit of the University of Louisville is back and so are the students as they return to campus Tuesday.For some who will be stepping on campus for the first time, they’ll be calling the new state-of-the-art Belknap Residence Hall home. To celebrate the first traditional style dorm built on campus in over 30 years, students, staff and board of trustees held a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Monday.”We know that our students who can live on campus, graduate and retain at a much higher rate,” said Michael Mardis, vice president of student affairs at UofL. “Our students in our living, learning communities are in this building and there are classrooms where students can take some of their classes in here.”The 452-bed facility in the heart of campus features two-tier lounges, natural lighting spaces and gives first-year students access to key campus facilities. It’s also gender-inclusive housing, which furthers the university’s fight for inclusive and safe spaces on campus. It’s something students, past and present, have been pushing for.”The intentionality behind including gender-neutral restrooms and adapting the traditional housing model to be gender inclusive has been critical since the beginning of the project,” said Eli Cooper of the student government association. “UofL’s recognition as the most LGBTQ+ friendly university in the south should be viewed not necessarily as an award, but a call to action to continuously expand our inclusive options.”Though in nontraditional times, staff offer freshman students advice for their first year in college: Get involved.”Digging in your freshman year especially is so impactful and you meet all your friends that way, you’re in a new place with new people. I just hope that everyone digs in and goes 100% this year,” said Grace Beebe, president of the residence hall association.The completion of Belknap Residence Hall is one of two for students. The second dorm will be located right across the Belknap, and expected to be complete by next year.UofL students begin classes on Aug. 23.
After a trying year, the spirit of the University of Louisville is back and so are the students as they return to campus Tuesday.
For some who will be stepping on campus for the first time, they’ll be calling the new state-of-the-art Belknap Residence Hall home. To celebrate the first traditional style dorm built on campus in over 30 years, students, staff and board of trustees held a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Monday.
“We know that our students who can live on campus, graduate and retain at a much higher rate,” said Michael Mardis, vice president of student affairs at UofL. “Our students in our living, learning communities are in this building and there are classrooms where students can take some of their classes in here.”
The 452-bed facility in the heart of campus features two-tier lounges, natural lighting spaces and gives first-year students access to key campus facilities. It’s also gender-inclusive housing, which furthers the university’s fight for inclusive and safe spaces on campus. It’s something students, past and present, have been pushing for.
“The intentionality behind including gender-neutral restrooms and adapting the traditional housing model to be gender inclusive has been critical since the beginning of the project,” said Eli Cooper of the student government association. “UofL’s recognition as the most LGBTQ+ friendly university in the south should be viewed not necessarily as an award, but a call to action to continuously expand our inclusive options.”
Though in nontraditional times, staff offer freshman students advice for their first year in college: Get involved.
“Digging in your freshman year especially is so impactful and you meet all your friends that way, you’re in a new place with new people. I just hope that everyone digs in and goes 100% this year,” said Grace Beebe, president of the residence hall association.
The completion of Belknap Residence Hall is one of two for students. The second dorm will be located right across the Belknap, and expected to be complete by next year.
UofL students begin classes on Aug. 23.