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rendering: Sasaki Associates
Maria Hall will be expanded to house 72 students.
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Keller ’67 and friends huddled around her dorm’s lone TV to see the Beatles sing “I Want to Hold Your Hand” on the Ed Sullivan Show during their first visit to America. Keller said she remembers exactly where she was when President John F. Kennedy was shot. “I was with friends, climbing up the five flights from gym class in the basement of College Hall. Classmates were shouting the news down the echoing stairwell. We were sent home early for Thanksgiving break but my parents couldn’t pick me up right away. I was one of the last to leave the dorm and still recall vividly the silent halls and the sadness of that gray, rainy day.” Domitilla Hall opened in 1964, just in time for Keller’s sophomore year. Move-in day sticks in her memory, Keller said. “The shouting, hugging, and joy at seeing friends after the summer away. There was something so warm and welcoming about returning, minus the anxiety of move-in day freshman year.” Each of the dorms continues to retain a distinct personality. Domitilla is still the place to be
for sophomores. Angela is now an all-freshman dorm and includes a recently rehabbed first floor lounge and fitness center with state-of-the-art equipment. Maria and College Halls attract nursing students and are known as the quiet residences. College Hall was the last dorm to go co-ed. Inside each residence hall, technology has transformed the way students live and communicate. Gone is the hallway phone booth that served as a lifeline for past Regis students. Smart phones have replaced landlines installed in the 1990s, and sleek laptops and iPads have made bulky computers and typewriters history. While some students squeeze flat-screen TVs, DVD players, and video game systems into their rooms, many opt to watch shows on the Internet via Netflix. Residence life staff members work hard to keep students happy and involved on campus, organizing an array of social, community service, and faith-based activities. They work closely with members of the College’s health center and campus police to ensure a safe environment and a calming place to call home, said Housing Director Shawn Edie, who lives with his wife and their two young sons in an apartment above the chapel in College Hall. “When students live on campus, opportunities open up for them,” said Student Affairs Vice President Kara Kolomitz. “They grow, they develop confidence and social skills, they become more independent. And, as they have for decades here, they create lifelong friendships.” Writer Patricia Murray DiBona ’84 lived in Angela Hall throughout her four years at Regis, as did her sisters Judith Murray Regan ’74 and Susan Murray Cronin ’86. Her sister Valerie Murray ’90 broke ranks and lived in Maria Hall.
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Co m mu n i ty Ad d it i on S The first phase of the Master Plan to remake core areas of the campus launches this spring. Phase I will yield a stunning, landscaped quadrangle flanked by College Hall, St. Joseph Hall, Alumnae Hall, a new entrance to the Library— and a new wing for Maria Hall. For Student Affairs Vice President Kara Kolomitz, the projects are both exciting and telling. “This is about how we live, and what Regis values,” said Kolomitz. “We are so grateful that Phase I is about community space—creating space for all of us to come together. It reinforces the notion that we are all connected. “In her very first meeting with students in 2011, President Hays asked them what would deepen their time here,” Kolomitz continued. “They talked about the living and learning concept, and that ultimately became part of the overall strategic plan for the College. From a student advocacy perspective, that is very impressive. It speaks to the power of the student voice.” The Maria Hall addition will create suite-style bedrooms for 72 students, and a large, fireplaced central “living room” and kitchen for the entire Regis community. “We’ve not been able to offer a contemporary housing choice for many years,” said Kolomitz, “so we’re thrilled about the new wing, and the effect it will have on campus life and student recruitment.” Work on the new wing, the campus quad, and the Library’s new vestibule, café and amphitheater-style staircase is slated for completion by fall 2015. Learn more and watch the Master Plan video at www.regiscollege.edu/masterplan.
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5/13/14 4:08 PM