New Honors College Renovations to Build Connection and Community
Two of the oldest residential halls on campus are recently reopened after a $48 million renovation and expansion project. The Honors Residential College (HRC) has been given a revitalized home within Memorial and Alexander halls.
Students, faculty and staff in the Honors College returned to campus this fall to a newly-renovated residential complex. The Honors Residential College, made up of Memorial Hall, home to female students, and Alexander Hall, the residence hall for male students, has been given a complete renovation along the same lines that many of Baylor’s other residential halls have received in recent years.
Extensive work in Alexander and Memorial has resulted in a complete transformation. Residents’ rooms were completely gutted and rebuilt from floor to ceiling. Updated electrical, water, and other utilities offer greater convenience, reliability and efficiency. Every floor is now more open, welcoming and filled with natural light.
Even the hallways have had a makeover. Now offering more study nooks and community areas, the passages that connect residents’ rooms on each floor also serve as destinations that foster connection by allowing residents to gather and share space with one another.
Previously two separate buildings, Alexander and Memorial are now connected by the Carona Family Commons, a new building that architecturally and functionally unites the two residence halls. On the ground level, the Carona Family Commons provides new access to Memorial Dining Hall and Alexander Reading Room, along with a new outdoor courtyard. On three upper floors, it enhances residential life through a learning center, study rooms, gaming area, lounge spaces and a community kitchen.
“Among the many benefits of the renovation of Alexander and Memorial is the addition connecting the buildings on the second and third floors,” Jason Whitt, Ph.D., HRC faculty steward and senior lecturer in the Honors Program, said. “It provides much-needed common space for the HRC community, where our students gather to study, play, relax and prepare meals. This space has become the thriving center of the HRC, where students truly can share life together.”
As part of the renovation, Memorial Chapel features a new community area in front of the entry. Designed to be used as a “pre-function” space that flows into the chapel, this is a space that can be used before or after events held in the chapel for students and faculty to gather for additional programming or social activities.
Existing community spaces also received updates with an eye toward accessibility. The Reading Room, a legacy space that is often used by Honors College programs and entities hosting events and activities for larger groups, now features a ramp for its primary mode of entry for all guests. Even in many newly remodeled buildings, ramps and other accessibility features are often an afterthought. In the Honors College redesign, it was important to communicate structurally that all people belong and that equity and accessibility are critical features of this community.
The Honors College project, encompassing substantial improvements to the HRC and Draper Academic Building, represents a major investment in transformational undergraduate education at Baylor. It builds on a legacy of nationally acclaimed honors education and prepares the Honors College for even greater accomplishments.
An Expanded Footprint
The Honors College renovation project also included improvements that bring Honors College faculty, staff and students together in office, seminar and classroom space. The Office of the Dean, included in the renovation of the HRC, now shares a spacious two-level suite with the academic advising program in Alexander Hall. New office suites in Draper Academic Building represent support spaces for faculty and professional staff within the Honors College’s two undergraduate majors, University Scholars and Great Texts, and two academic enhancement programs, the Baylor Interdisciplinary Core (BIC) and the Honors Program.
“Baylor Honors College supports 1,400 high-achieving undergraduate students pursuing over 90 academic majors across the university,” said Douglas Henry, Ph.D., dean of the Honors College. “Long anticipated improvements for Memorial and Alexander Halls and for Draper Academic Building will strengthen our work with these exceptional students.”
A major focus area of this renovation project was an emphasis on connection and collaboration. Previously scattered in academic buildings all over campus, Honors College faculty, staff and students now have a home base between the HRC and Draper that creates more opportunities for faculty and student interaction.
The renovation included new classroom and group study spaces, as well as integrated technology that will functionally increase academic collaboration between faculty and students. The overall aesthetic design of the space has been improved as well — every floor appears to be more open, welcoming and bright, visually inviting scholars to gather and cultivate relationships.
Additionally, Honors College faculty and staff have a newly renovated office space in the Draper Academic Building. Honors College students will now benefit from increased opportunities for conversation with their professors over a meal in Memorial Dining Hall or walking to class through Founders Mall. This new proximity creates space for students and faculty to ponder questions and insights together, collaborate with scholars with a variety of expertise and examine and explore common interests and pursuits.
Through a greater footprint on Baylor’s campus, and in dedicated spaces that establish more firmly the presence and character of the Honors College, the project provides a more accessible point of entry for all Baylor students to interact with the programs and faculty who make up this important part of Baylor’s community.