North Suites is a brand-new dorm on Liberty University’s campus and presents a unique opportunity of building a hall community from scratch.
The resident assistants (RAs), resident shepherds (RSs) and community group leaders (CGLs) worked to create a new culture that students could easily step into and feel at home. Their hall-wide theme is “The Deck.” Their hall verse, Luke 2:49, helps leaders maintain their central goal of keeping Christ at the center of the hall.
North Suites is a combination of the many different dorm options around campus. Taking inspiration from the Residential Commons, the Hill, the Circle, Campus East and the Quads, it presents an experience unlike any other, giving students the luxury of a kitchen and plenty of opportunities to socialize within their hall.
“North Suites is a coed building, so coming from Commons II, I really wanted to make sure that it felt like one big hall, as opposed to two separate halls,” senior Traya Mulder, an RA at North Suites, said. “I also really love the common-room community.”
While many of the traditional parts of other halls on campus have been incorporated into North Suites, the leadership has also made an effort to create new events, traditions and legacy names to help it stand out.
The “NS Mile” is a staple of the new dorm. Students run six laps around the building as quickly as possible, in hopes of establishing a record for the fastest time.
“Hall Nighter” is an upcoming event when students will stay up all night playing games and building community. The event will end with a 6 a.m. Waffle House trip.
“I think every student that lives here was so ready to just be a part of something new and exciting,” Mulder said. “We’ve had great attendance at our hall events and have really been able to be unified as a hall.”
The leadership seeks to establish a purpose behind the community, which they have identified as pointing students back to Christ through their actions and intentional planning.
“I just want to make sure that every single person is able to say that they were invested in,” sophomore Jae Shropshire, a CGL on North Suites, said. “God has been at work on our hall already and I am so excited to see how he uses me to speak life into these girls.”
According to Mulder, North Suites houses 107 residents, making it one of the larger residence halls at Liberty. Consequently, leadership is putting in a greater effort to ensure that each student is seen, heard and loved.
“I want to lead by example — being someone who is approachable, intentional and consistently pointing people back to Christ,” senior Olivia Dyjewski, an RS at North Suites, said. “I want to build genuine relationships, encourage the CGLs and create a hall where people feel known, supported and challenged to grow in their relationship with the Lord.”
Twitchell is a feature editor for The Liberty Champion.