A New Dorm

George Fox University (GFU) is building a new dormitory to accommodate the growth of the student population.

“There is nothing set in stone right now,” says the Director of University Housing, Kayin Griffith. The plans for this new dormitory were debuted at Family Weekend (Oct. 27-29). The goal is for the dormitory to be completed in time for the fall semester of 2019 and open for housing selection in the spring semester of 2019. As of now, the dormitory is unnamed.

 This new dormitory will allow the university to house more students on campus in light of the growth in GFU’s population. GFU has gone through a substantial amount of growth in terms of enrollment and all on-campus living options are currently at high capacity, according to the Residence Life office.

The dormitory is expected to house anywhere from 185 to 250 residents with at least three floors. This would make the dormitory the largest residence hall on campus.

The current proposal places the new dormitory on the east side of campus by Brandt Hall and Villa House. With the current plan, Villa House would be moved to a different location and the dormitory would be built in its place.

This placement of the dormitory does bring up some concerns for students regarding parking in the already-limited parking space available in the lot by Brandt, Le Shana, and Villa House.

“The parking lot only has so much space, so if they build another dorm without creating new parking, then I would definitely be upset,” says Annabelle Wombacher, a Brandt Hall resident who uses the parking lot. If the dormitory is built in the place of Villa House, other parking would be created to remedy the situation, according to Griffith.

The dormitory is being built with a thought toward versatility, so either upperclassmen or freshmen would be able to occupy the residence hall. The goal of the hall is to be able to work for various scenarios.

“At this point, our thought is that this won’t be a traditional residence hall,” said Griffith.

The new dormitory, although no plans are completely decided upon, will allow GFU to grow in equal measure with its population, making living on-campus a little more comfortable.

Reported by Kelsey Viehmann

Photographed by Nathan Reichlin