Petition for gender inclusivity in new dorm circulates among U of L students Thursday, Mar 11 2021 

all-gender housing and Campus Housing and Director of Campus Housing and Dr. Thomas Hardy and gender identity and gender inclusive and gender inclusivity and gender-inclusive petition and gender-neutral restrooms and lgbtq and LGBTQIA+ and New Residence Hall and News and non-binary and NRH2021 and open housing policy and Orvelle Thomas and petition and Sabrina Collins and SGA and SGA and Administration and SGA Top 4 and student body president and student government association Madelin Shelton 1:30 pm

By Madelin Shelton — 

A petition to make the New Residence Hall (NRH2021) gender-inclusive has begun circulating among the student body in response to U of L’s decision to postpone the gender-inclusive setup of the new student living space.

The petition, signed by 911 members of the U of L community and authored by Orvelle Thomas, criticizes the university’s decision.

“Allowing gender-inclusive floors would be a step in the direction of the University fulfilling its promise of maintaining a diverse and inclusive campus,” Thomas wrote in the petition.

Sabrina Collins, Student Government Association (SGA) president, provided a letter from June 2020 that the Top 4 of SGA sent to Campus Housing in support of gender-inclusive housing.

It included a description of what it means to have gender-inclusive housing. “An open housing policy, also known as all-gender housing at other institutions, would allow students to live together regardless of sex assigned at birth, gender identity, or gender expression,” it said.

“This school has consistently been named one of the most LGBTQ+ friendly universities in the South,” Thomas wrote. “But giving in to societal pressures, and maintaining a deliberate anti-LGBTQ+ agenda, does not make the University of Louisville deserving of that award.”

Collins has signed and advocated for the petition. When asked how the petition began, Collins said that there was no official announcement from the university that gender-inclusive housing would be featured in the new dorm.

“However, it was very clear to SGA and other campus-wide partners that this would be the case, as we have been involved in the design process from the very beginning,” she said. According to the petition, the university had decided to postpone this decision, saying that this policy needed a “trial year.” This decision by the university prompted student pushback.

SGA’s June letter also contains the Top 4’s belief in the importance of gender inclusivity in campus housing.

“SGA believes that every student has a right to equitable and accessible living opportunities on our campus,” they said. “Our current residential living system of sex-based assignment (male, female) does not support the members of our growing LGBTQIA community and non-binary community. U of L’s existing, sex-based assignment system has placed an undue labor on this resident population to request housing accommodations and repeatedly justify their gender/sex identity to unfamiliar staff members.”

Thomas Hardy, director of Campus Housing, reiterated the university’s efforts to diversity and inclusion.

“The University of Louisville is recognized as a national leader in its commitment to diversity and inclusion. U of L Campus Housing is determined to support and build on that commitment,” he said.

Hardy also detailed U of L’s recent announcement that the new residence hall is slated to include one gender-inclusive floor. Further, the university plans to include gender-neutral restrooms throughout the residence hall.

“We want to thank the students who have argued passionately about the needs for this accommodation, and we want to assure all our students that their well-being is at the forefront of all we do,” he said.

Photo Courtesy of the University of Louisville

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U of L plans to complete new dorm to house student-athletes in 2022 Monday, Nov 16 2020 

athletes and Buffalo Construction and Campus Housing and Department of Athletics and floyd street and Kueber Center and Larry Gough and new residency hall and News and planet fitness kueber center and Southeast Corridor Residential Hall and sports and student athletes and U of L Athletics and Vince Tyra Madelin Shelton 12:30 pm

By Madelin Shelton — 

The University of Louisville has approved plans to build a new residency hall across Floyd Street from the Planet Fitness Kueber Center, an athletic training facility utilized by U of L student-athletes. The residency hall is expected to be completed by the start of the fall 2022 semester and will be available to both student-athletes and other U of L students.

The project, aptly named the Southeast Corridor Residential Hall project, is a partnership between U of L Campus Housing, U of L Athletics and a third-party developer consisting of Buffalo Construction and Larry Gough, who developed Cardinal Towne. The groundbreaking of the construction is expected to start in March of 2021 according to Vince Tyra, Vice President for Intercollegiate Athletics and Director of Athletics.

The property is currently being used for university parking.

The facility will comprise of 128 beds, of which no more than 50% will be occupied by student-athletes to meet NCAA guidelines. U of L Athletics will claim 63 beds for student-athletes and 10 beds for team managers and graduate assistants.

The project will cost an estimated $23.5 million, with $3.5 million coming from U of L Athletics through donor funds. U of L Athletics will retain the naming rights to the facility in exchange for their contribution. U of L Campus Housing will manage the facility and include a full-time live-in hall director and three resident assistants.

Members of the men’s and women’s basketball teams and the women’s lacrosse team will reside in the residency hall. The building will also house a Living Learning Community (LLC) comprised of sophomore and above Sports Administration majors.

U of L Athletics expects the residential hall to help their department with the recruitment and retention of top-level students and student-athletes. It will include an enclosed crosswalk over Floyd Street that will link the residence hall to the Kueber Center and will serve as a beautification effort for the Floyd Street area of campus.

“This will obviously be a first-class project, the renderings represent that. It’s really going to help in the recruitment of our Sports Administration program which is one of our fastest growing programs and is ranked number one in the country,” Tyra said.

Below are concept designs of the building once it is completed:

Photos Courtesy of  U of L Athletics

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Make this year’s dorm a home away from home Sunday, Apr 26 2020 

campus and Campus Housing and Cardinals and decorations and dorm life and Dorm Living and dorms and Features and Homey and Housing and items and Louisville and Moving-In and students Zoe Watkins 8:57 pm

By Delaney Hildreth–

As the new semester comes closer, students who will be living on-campus for the year will start planning what they’ll take with them to their dorms in August. Campus Housing has a list of recommended items on their website, but to help newcomers to dorm living, here are some additional things that will make any dorm more inviting and functional.

  One of the most important aspects to prepare for is how much space in the dorm there is to work with, which only gets more complicated when adding a roommate to the mix.

“Dorm rooms don’t typically offer a lot of space, so you have to get creative to make room for all of your belongings,” BusinessInsider.com aptly said. The site offers solutions like plastic drawers to go under beds and over-the-door pocket organizers to maximize storage potential.

They also point out, “You don’t get much space in dorm rooms, so any multi-purpose items are great for capitalizing on what you actually do have.” They recommend items like desk lamps that include USB outlets or laundry hampers that have pockets for laundry supplies.

There are a lot of items that get left behind or overlooked in the hustle of moving in, but these are often the most crucial in dorm living.

Incoming sophomore Dayna Thomas experienced this when moving in last year. “I didn’t have a mattress topper for my bed at first. After a few weeks of sleeping on the dorm provided mattress, I quickly realized why everyone else had mattress toppers and then went and got one for myself,” Thomas said.

Things like trash cans, paper towels, power strips, and dishes are items typically taken for granted, but nonetheless important, especially in a dorm setting where students will spend a lot of their time.

Thomas also said, “One of the most critical things to keep in your dorm is snacks. When everything else on campus is closer and you just need something to get you by, having some snacks on hand in your dorm is a life saver!”

Finally, bring cozy, homey items like rugs, extra pillows, and wall decorations. Dorms are only equipped with the bare necessities, but transforming the room with a few decorative items are sure to turn any dorm into a cozy living space for the year.

These items, while not as functional as the other things mentioned here, are what will make dorm life much more comfortable and satisfactory to take the edge off living in a new location by making it feel more like home.

File photo//The Louisville Cardinal

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Construction of new dorms set to begin May 2020 Friday, Mar 6 2020 

Campus Housing and Construction and cultural center and dorms and Miller Hall and News and parking and SGA and Administration and Threlkeld Hall Eli Hughes 2:00 pm

By Victoria Doll–

The University of Louisville will begin new residence hall construction May 2020, using $90 million of state funding. Two new dormitories will be built to replace Miller Hall and Threlkeld Hall.

John Karman, U of L’s director of media relations, stated these dorms have been chosen for replacement because they no longer represent what students want. The university is updating these dorms to better serve the needs of the students.

In May 2020, construction on a new residence hall will begin where the Miller Hall parking lot currently is. The new residence hall is set to open in August 2021, and the existing Miller Hall will be demolished in May 2022. There will be 170 parking spaces lost during the construction.

Gary Becker, U of L’s director of Parking and Transportation Services, commented on the loss of the Miller Hall parking lot.

“The greatest impact to campus will be the loss of visitor parking,” Becker said.

The construction will have minimal effects on faculty and students of U of L. There will also be no new parking added during the construction.

Despite the loss of parking, Becker and his team are excited to see the growth of the university and what new opportunities the construction can bring.

In May 2021, Threlkeld Hall will also be demolished and there will be a new residence hall built at that location. That new residence hall is slated to open August 2022.

Both of the new dorms being built in the next two years will have 450 traditional style dorm rooms.

During the upcoming construction, the Cultural Center will also be torn down and rebuilt to better serve the students.

Veronnie Jones, senior associate vice president for diversity and equity, stated the construction of the new Cultural Center is something she and her team have been looking forward to.

“This is an exciting time for our Diversity and Equity units. This has been a goal for many years, and we are glad to see it finally happening,” she said.

Jones has had members and some students helping with the formation of the project since fall 2019. They are excited about the new opportunities this construction will bring for the Cultural Center.

During construction, the Diversity and Equity Belknap units will be relocated to the first and second floor of Strickler Hall’s wings.

The Cultural Center, the Office of Diversity Education and Inclusive Excellence, the LGBT Center, the Muhammad Ali Institute for Peace and Social Justice and the Women’s Center will be included in the relocation.

Jones and her team view this as a positive change.

“We are already exploring ways to work more collaboratively as a unit and also exploring the effectiveness of our current programs,” she said. “This is a great opportunity to foster great synergy across campus.”

File Photo // The Louisville Cardinal

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