Groundbreaking slated for new Honors College Residence Hall Tuesday, May 27

May 16, 2008 -- Arkansas State University will hold a groundbreaking ceremony on Tuesday, May 27, at 1 p.m. for its new Honors College Residence Hall. Update: Due to the threat of inclement weather, the groundbreaking will be held in the parking garage, southeast corner, lower level. The time for the groundbreaking is unchanged. The Department of Residence Life, Division of Student Affairs, plans to open the new residential facility for honors students in August 2009. Participants will include Dr. Robert L. Potts, chancellor, ASU-Jonesboro; Dr. Rick Stripling, vice chancellor for Student Affairs; Dr. Gil Fowler, associate dean for the Honors College; Mike Gibson, chair, ASU Board of Trustees; and student representative Rachel Smith, the 2008 R. E. Lee Wilson Award winner and past president of the Honors College Association (HCA). The site of the new residence hall is on the ASU campus between Whitaker Street and University Loop East, south of Danner Street. The Honors College Residence Hall was designed by Brackett-Krennerich and Associates Architects of Jonesboro.

The Honors College Residence Hall will be a living-learning residential community that will help to create a sense of identity for the honors students chosen to live there. The residence hall will house both upperclassmen and first-year students in the Honors College.

The three-building residential facility will total 50,268 square feet, and will provide 222 beds in fully furnished single and double bedrooms in suite-style arrangement. Amenities will include study rooms, a laundry area, and a courtyard.

In addition to living amenities, the facility will also house a 2,500 square-foot classroom, in which innovative programming will be offered. This state-of-the-art classroom facility will be the first of its type in a residential setting on the ASU-Jonesboro campus. Honors residential activities will serve as a model for collaboration as the Department of Residence Life and the Division of Student Affairs team with students, faculty, and professionals from the Honors College to offer honors courses and additional academic, cultural, and social events for students living and learning in this unique venue.

Opportunities for academic, co-curricular, and residential involvement will be bountiful. Honors classes, special events and HCA student meetings will be conveniently held steps away from the residence hall that honors students will call home. Students will also be able to take advantage of study lounges in each building, social gathering areas, an advising office, and the courtyard that connects the entire community.

Approximately 400 undergraduate students are involved in the Honors College at ASU-Jonesboro and students are selected on a competitive basis. Students who complete the Honors College requirements graduate from ASU with special distinction and recognition. For more information about ASU’s Honors College, including qualifying for admission to the program, contact the Honors office at (870) 972-2308, or visit http://honors.astate.edu/. 

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