Jack Moffet had seen his older brother’s freshman dorm room. So when it came time for him to head off to college, he expected his to be more or less the same.
What he found after moving into the University of Arizona Honors Village a little over a week ago wasn’t like the tiny quarters his brother lived in at the University of Wisconsin five years prior. Rather what he walked into was something he could only describe as “big” and “gorgeous.”
“I stepped foot on campus, and I was like, ‘This is beautiful. This whole village is amazing,’” he said.
The freshman engineering major from Chapel Hill, North Carolina, was one of roughly 1,100 students, faculty and administrators to move into the sprawling campus on East Mabel Street between North Park and Mountain avenues.
The $137-million project included the construction of the $84-million village, along with a campus recreation center and parking structure opened the week before the school semester started Monday — and 18 months after construction began.
The complex creates a centralized location for honors students, officials said, unlike in the past, where students had to shuffle around from where they lived to where their classes were held to administration offices.
“It’s something that really allows us to take some great students at U of A and really give them some additional support, resources and opportunity while they’re here,” said Kevin Hall, senior director of recruitment and marketing for the college. “It’s great that we’re able to do some individualized support for these students.”
Around the state, Arizona State University has a dedicated campus for the Barrett Honors College downtown and space for honors students on four campuses, while Northern Arizona University recently opened its own Honors Residential College building, with living, study and classroom space.
Hall said competition wasn’t a motivating a factor in creating the honors campus at UA.
“It was more for the University of Arizona to say, ‘Honors is important. We are going to make this investment in the honors college and these great students,’” Hall said.
Living space for 1,000 students
The obvious centerpiece of the UA project is the towering Honors Village, which includes living spaces for 1,056 students, including separate bathrooms and state-of-the-art lounge rooms with arcade-style games and electric pianos. The structure also has classroom space both inside and out, and amphitheater area for guest speakers and lecturers. There’s also a dining hall called ‘85 North, a cafeteria-style restaurant with a focus on healthier food options.
Across the walkway is the three-story recreation center, dubbed “North Rec,” which includes a basketball gym, state-of-the art workout equipment and exercise bikes, and space for personal training classes. The facility also includes a second location of Campus Health’s Counseling and Psychological Services.
The dining hall and recreation center are open to the whole campus, not just honors students and staff, Hall said.
The project hasn’t come without a few hiccups. Boxes are still strewn about, and there are connectivity issues in both the village and recreation center. University officials acknowledged to a local TV station that they caught four field mice on the premises. Students pointed to issues with leaking ceilings and the laundry facilities not working.
Hall said they still have the contracting and construction crews on site to take care of those problems — and any others that might pop up.
“Like with any major construction project like this, there will be some little issues,” he said. “It’s all coming together really, really well.”
Student: “Nicer than I imagined”
As for the students, they said they aren’t concerned.
“It’s not like the place is burning down or anything,” Moffet said. “It’s nothing too bad.”
The school has roughly 4,400 students in its honors college, who are admitted based on merit either when they apply as freshman or when they apply after they are already on campus. Students previously lived in Arbol de la Vida, a dorm at the southwest corner of the main campus, which is now open to everyone.
For some honors students, they admitted that the honors village wasn’t a primary factor when applying. But once they got on campus they changed their mind.
“I was definitely surprised by how nice it was. I was expecting it to be pretty cool. It’s even nicer than I imagined,” said Katie Fitts, a freshman studying physics and astronomy, who admitted she wasn’t concerned about housing until she was getting ready to enroll.
Fitts added that she doesn’t mind being a few blocks north of the main campus.
“It’s like a 10- or 15-minute walk,” she said. “But I feel like that’s a good thing because I’ve been walking a lot more and I feel healthier.”
While the honors village sits north of campus — and even farther north than the Eller College of Management and James E. Rogers College of Law — Hall said he wouldn’t be surprised if the campus begins to shift a little north.
But that won’t include any growth of the honors college, for now. Hall said the college is going to be limited to 4,400 students despite growing enrollment at the university.
In the meantime, Hall said he’s still getting used to just being in the building.
“We have been in the planning stages … and construction phases for so long that now that we’re actually here in the building, it still doesn’t quite feel real,” he said.
