Long live the Annex
Off-site residential housing location reopens for students for the 2016-2017 year
IT’S BACK — The Annex I housing location returns for students in the fall 2016 semester. Photo credit: Meghan D’Amico
After being vacant for the spring 2016 semester, the Annex I housing complex, located 2.5 miles away from main campus on Odd Fellows Road, has reopened for one more year as Liberty University welcomes the class of 2020.
Annex I originally closed down in January 2016, forcing the students who lived there during the fall 2015 semester to move to the new Commons II dormitory located in the center of campus.
Due to an increase in demand for on-campus living this school year, though, the Office of Residence Life was compelled to reopen the Annex I to accommodate for students.
According to Executive Director of Residence Life Dustin DuBose, the students have accepted the re-opening of the Annex with open arms.
“Students are pleased that we have made this decision,” DuBose said. “We have always heard that those who live at the Annex enjoy it. That response has been no different this year.”
Madison Carroll, a current Resident Assistant (RA) at the Annex, said she too has encountered a lot of positivity about the reopening.
“I guess I would say my experience has been nothing but positive interaction,” Carroll said.
“It’s (the Annex) allowing students who were unable to find housing on main campus to still experience the on campus life in an off-campus way.”
Although scheduled to stay open for the remainder of the 2016-2017 academic year, DuBose said opening the Annex is only a temporary fix and that students can expect it to close again before the start of the fall 2017 semester.
In order to attract students back to the Annex, the Office of Resident Life offered a curfew exemption to students living at the Annex who are 21 or older, or a senior.
“We wanted to encourage the upperclassmen to move out to the Annex, to free up some new student beds for incoming freshmen,” DuBose said.
DuBose said students who met the qualifications had a set time frame to take up the offer, of which about 40 students accepted.
It is still unclear what will happen to the Annex I following its closing.
The neighboring Annex II building, a former on-campus living option for female residential students, has been remodeled into housing for married and graduate students, now called Liberty North Point.
According to DuBose, no similar plans have yet been made for the Annex I.
Ramey is a feature reporter.
Kehrman is a news reporter.