Enhanced rendering of front elevation of The Living-Learning Center to open Fall 2001

There is an electric current of excitement generating through the college today that extends from the board room to the classrooms to the cafeteria to the athletic fields. The word is out! Lenoir-Rhyne is building a new student residence hall! Named The Living-Learning Center, it is the first new (not renovated) student residence built on campus since Price Village was completed in 1974. Groundbreaking ceremonies will take place on March 17. The residence hall will be ready for occupancy in the fall of 2001.

The building of the new residence fulfills an objective of L-R’s strategic plan approved in 1995 by the L-R Board of Trustees. The vision expressed in the plan seeks to ensure that the college "will be and will have the reputation for being a community of learning – dynamic, rigorous and caring: based in and exhibiting Christian principles --- outstanding in preparation of the total student for leadership and service in the global environment." Later, with the assistance of faculty, staff and students, six goals were developed which, when completed, would propel the college into the new millenium with confidence and pride.

"Increasing globalization of communications and trade, the intensifying impact of the computer on everyday living, the apparent fractures in our social structure, and the changing composition of our population: all these things called for a response," explained Dr. Ryan LaHurd, college president. "We cannot ignore these changes and still successfully maneuver through life in America at the dawn of the third millennium. Yet," he added, "we did not want to lose ourselves or our values in the midst of this change."

Goal Four - within the context of the master plan - is to provide an up-to-date, aesthetically-pleasing, and well-maintained physical plant that sustains the programs and activities of the college. L-R’s commitment to educating the whole person will be supported by this facility which brings together the social, intellectual, spiritual, aesthetic and physical aspects of student development.

"We’re thrilled and excited about our new Living-Learning Center," said Anita Johnson Gwin, L-R vice president for student affairs and dean of students. "Research has shown that students today are not satisfied with the more familiar idea of a college dormitory. Times change. Many of our young people were not raised in large families as perhaps their parents and grandparents were. Before they came to college, most did not have to share a bedroom. Many did not even have to share a bath. As a consequence, their demands for living accommodations are more in keeping with the life from which they came. They want privacy. They want to live in an aesthetically-pleasing atmosphere. Yet they still want what college students have traditionally wanted: areas for recreation and room for collaboration. We believe our new Living-Learning Center will fill those needs and much, much more." In fact, the initial design for the building was suggested by students in several interactive design sessions with the architects.

"I thought it was a great idea for them to listen to us," said Mike DiStefano, a junior from Baltimore, Md., who is one of the students who participated in the design sessions. "There were so many different ideas that I felt bad for the architects having to select and then address them in their plans," he admits, "But they did a great job of listening. They were very receptive to what we had to say." DiStephano said he felt strongly about apartment-style living quarters and may get a chance to experience them first-hand, "I’m studying to be an athletic trainer, and I’ll be staying on for a fifth year. So, with the completion date being Fall 2001, I’d like to live there if I’m given the opportunity."

To be constructed on 6^th Street NE between the college soccer field and the Price Village residence hall, The Living-Learning Center will house 128 L-R juniors and seniors, with housing priority given to seniors. A first-floor apartment will be made available for a faculty-in-residence, a European concept that brings an academician into a student dwelling. Space exists for that professor to hold small classes and seminars in the building. It is hoped that senior and junior students will be able to self-govern, thereby precluding the need to have student resident assistants (RAs) in the facility.

The 36,000-square-foot, three-story residence hall consists of two wings, set at a 90-degree angle; each wing contains both single and double bedrooms. Each apartment also has a kitchen and bath which will be shared by four students. Common areas exist at the intersection of the two wings and include a lobby, laundry and vending, gathering and meeting spaces, lounge and study areas. Students’ comfort and safety are major priorities. A sprinkler system will be installed throughout the building, as well as security card access to gain entry to the facility.

"One of the goals of the project was to develop the building, the surrounding streetscape and playing fields in a manner that created an extension of the larger campus that reached out to areas that currently seem isolated," said a representative from Little and Associates of Charlotte, architects for the residence hall. "In addition, much thought was given to the architectural design of the building. For instance, the building will be predominately red brick and its sloped roofs, arches, and buttresses hint at the neo-Gothic architecture of L-R’s older buildings, the Rhyne and Mauney-Schaeffer buildings."

"There is, however, a much greater benefit at work here than just pleasing our students, although that is critically important," noted Gwin. Research, she explained, has shown that when colleges are able to build thriving residence life programs, their student body’s entire collegiate experience is enhanced.

College and university research also shows that on-campus living plays a major role in advancing a positive college experience. Students who live on campus take part in the community atmosphere that is built when a diverse group of students live and learn in close proximity. It has also been found that students who live in on-campus housing are twelve-percent more likely to remain in college and graduate than students who have not had this experience.

Other research reports that those who live in residence halls have been found to be more satisfied with their college experiences than those who live off-campus, and they are much more involved in extracurricular activities.

Of course, everything that promotes student involvement in the entire college experience is of primary importance to L-R as it helps the college fulfill its mission: to be deeply concerned with the development of the whole person. . . . to seek to liberate mind and spirit, clarify personal faith, foster physical wholeness, build a sense of community, and promote responsible leadership for service in the world.

"Our goal, as always, has been to define the point of intersection between who Lenoir-Rhyne College is and has been, and the continuing demands of change and opportunities for new development. We want to remain true to who we are, but we also must respond to the world around us and the needs of our college community," said LaHurd.

Skip Duhlstine, L-R vice president administration and finance, expanded on LaHurd’s statement. "We view the campus and its buildings as the primary physical resource and endowment of the college, a gift from our predecessors," he said. "Changes and development in the college’s programs, growth, technological developments and newly-added programs have created needs for expansion." To begin this growth as soon as possible, the college is financing the new $4.9 million complex by issuing tax-exempt bonds through the authority of the N.C. Educational Facilities Financing Agency and by donors’ gifts. Local firm Hickory Constructin has been awarded the building project.

Duhlstine continued, "So, while Lenoir-Rhyne is building its new residence hall, plans are also going forward to find funds for our much needed McCrorie Center (to house nursing, occupational therapy and sports medicine programs and additional athletic facilities) and for a building that will house a chapel and an enhanced theatre space."

Tom Reese, member of the L-R Board of Trustees and chair of the building and grounds committee is pleased with the progress that has been made toward L-R’s goals. "We are moving forward, and the results of our endeavors will reap enormous benefits for our students today and our students yet to come."

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