Continued: Honors Residence
While students appreciate the environmentally friendly aspects of the building, it is the amenities that have excited honors students most.
“This building is great!” said Rashid Kazi, a sophomore biology-chemistry major from Greenville. “There was a lot of hype about the building, a lot like the ‘Dark Knight’ movie, but it lived up to it.”
Rashid Kazi said he thought students moving into the Honors Residence may lose the “tight knit” feeling and interaction they enjoyed at Maxcy College, which was one-third the size. That has not been the case, he said.
“We’re meeting new people and checking out and using all the spaces,” he said. “It really is awesome. We can get dinner or a coffee at Starbucks and go upstairs to study in our rooms or the many study areas and living rooms.”
He referred to the building as a “blank canvas wanting to be painted on” and that students have shared many ideas to make it feel more like home, including hosting events, adding artwork to the halls and living-room areas and pots and pans to the kitchens.
The 191,123-square-foot Honors Residence opened in August. It features 356 rooms, numerous study areas and living rooms on each floor, multiple smart classrooms for instruction, an indoor bicycle room with shower, a dining hall and a Starbucks.