The Honors College has officially moved on from the basement of Elam and into a new home.
A house on campus that was once used as a place for storage has been redone as a relaxing study environment for Lipscomb’s honor students.
Director Paul Prill said the Honors program has been in need of more space as more students joined, as it currently has 600 students enrolled.
“We finally got a space where we can do things, so now we’re going to try and actually do some of those things,” Prill said.
Prill added that he wanted this to be a space for honors students to come and study or hang out. There are plenty of rooms, both upstairs and downstairs, where students can relax or study for their upcoming exam.
Prill also said he hopes to hold get-togethers for honors students and possibly sponsor certain events, giving students within the department an opportunity to get to know each other better.
“I’m hoping that if we can have some activities here, then people will start to meet other people in different classes,” Prill said.
He also noted that the freshman Lipscomb Experience classes will be meeting in the new building, so that freshman will know that the house is available to them. Prill said he hopes this will encourage them to come back throughout their time at Lipscomb.
“Students will see this as their space from day one,” Prill said.
To help the space feel more like their own, Prill said the Honors College has tried to be intentional about bringing in student-made art — and not just from those within the art department.
Savannah Obregon, a senior on the Honors College Counsel, said that many of the counsel’s meetings are now going to be held there because of how spacious it is. Now that the program has a space of its own, she said she plans on visiting it more often than she would when it was located in the basement of Elam.
“It’s a nice quiet space to go study or relax, or just go talk to Dr. Prill,” Orbregon said. “It’s just a comfortable space. That’s why I like it.”
The new honors house hasn’t had a Grand Opening, but Prill said he is inviting students to come and visit the new house. It is located adjacent to Bison Hall, next to the new medical center on campus.
“We’re very thankful that we have the space,” Prill said. “And we’re very appreciative of the work the administration has done to make sure that we got this space.”