Students choose Tri-Towers as best Residence Hall

Linda Stocum

There are 25 residence halls on campus, but only a few are considered Kent’s best.

The residence hall voted as the best place to live on campus in 2017 is Tri-Towers consisting of Leebrick, Wright and Koonce halls

Tri-Towers recently had renovations and added a fitness center to the second floor of the Tri-Towers Rotunda.

Tri-Towers also offers Rosie’s, a 24 hour dining service and market, drop-in tutoring and community laundry.

Susannah Hufford, the residence hall director of Korb and Leebrick, said the main purpose of her position is to give students a sense of community, and she is glad that students rate the hall so highly.

“It feels great,” Hufford said. “For me, though, I always want to focus on that I want to do the very best that I can. I want our hall to be really inclusive, really welcoming, really make people feel at home.”

The Centennial Courts was voted the second best hall on campus for offering bigger rooms and private bathrooms.

Daniel Braden, a sophomore Digital Media Production major, said he chose to live in Centennials Courts for more than just a big room.

“There are such supportive RA’s and everyone who lives in the Centennials is cool,” Braden said. “I feel like we all talk to each other. Like, everyone on my floor is friends with each other.”

He said the bathrooms also make it easier to live in the dorms.

“Being able to control what happens in the bathroom so it won’t be gross in the morning is a plus,” Braden said.

Stopher and Johnson halls came in third place.

These halls are reserved for honor students who live on campus, and they have private bathrooms and are considered a quieter dorm.

Mason Lee Branham, the residence hall director of Stopher and Johnson, said his whole job revolves around creating an environment that students will want to live in.

“I want students to be able to come in to talk about anything. Anything from, ‘Hey how you doing? How was Spring Break?’ to ‘Hey I’m having a problem, can I close this door?’,” Branham said.

He said he wants to connect to his residents as much as possible.

“The most important aspect is the human aspect. How do you make another human feel like you are listening to them?” Branham said. “I leave my door open all the time, I never have my door closed if I can help it.”

He hopes that people voted for Stopher and Johnson for more than its amenities, but rather the community that the hall creates.

“If residents feel like they learned something from living here, not just sleeping here, but feel like they learned and gained and grew while they were here, then I feel like we are doing what we are supposed to,” Branham said.