Sikes Hall will close next year to undergo renovations as Wessel Hall will provide additional space to include faculty.
Wessel will house first-year honors college students with a new “living learning community,” An initiative that would allow both freshmen and faculty to room in the new hall.
Emily Berry, director of residential life operations, said this will enrich the faculty-student relationship.
“We want students to feel connected to faculty and students in their classes,” Berry said. “What better way to do that than to bring the faculty to them.”
The completion of Wessel and the ensuing Sikes renovation will mark the final additions to the Freshmen Village, which will be a series of structures on the south side of campus set to be complete in 2024 and designed to allow for a larger freshman class.
The renovation to Sikes will allow the 46-year-old dormitory to accommodate a coed community similar to Bullock Hall.
Berry said the growth of co-ed dorms on campus will help students make connections during their first year at ACU.
“I am excited to see how the additions and renovations can create more opportunities and spaces for students to gather together and make meaningful connections,” Berry said.
Sikes now has common rooms that are optimal for small groups but are too small for larger groups of students.
Sikes resident Mandy Wilkins, freshman engineering major from Midlothian, has experienced the problem herself.
“There is not much to do [in the common rooms] – there is a TV and some sitting with a wall that separates the room, but that’s it,” Wilkins said. “The study rooms are nice; however, you cannot fit many people. So it is hard to build community.”
Kameron Spanberg, senior resident adviser in Wessel, said the opening of the 96,000-square-foot project this fall will help new students to naturally form quick relationships.
“Having 400 people in a dorm is exciting,” said Kameron Spanberg, junior biology major from Katy. “The large common areas which will be featured in Wessel will allow for a lot of people to get to know each other really fast.”
Berry said observing Wessel’s completion and looking ahead toward renovations in Sikes has heightened anticipations for future students.
“It has been very exciting to watch this vision come to life over the past few years,” Berry said. “I am really excited to see the ways that this community will help students be able to connect their academics to their social lives.”
