Student Living Continues to Evolve
Student Life was not always the life of luxury it is today

Written by Krista Shields

For almost 75 years, there was no such thing as dorm life. That’s right—the first dorm at TSU was not built until 1958. Named Alwood, the first dormitory was named after Ray Alwood, a local Ford car dealer and board of trustee member. Platt, named after Henry Platt, a Chicago businessman and former trustee; Cameron, named after Dr. Don Cameron, a local doctor, founder of Cameron Hospital, and former trustee; and Stewart, named after Dr. Robert B. Stewart, a former trustee at TSU and Purdue University treasurer, were built shortly after Alwood to house the swelling numbers and to bring fraternities back to campus.

Up until this time, students lived off campus, walking miles to class. Whether renting a room from a local widow, staying in a lake home during the winter months, or later renting a hotel room, students at TSU did their best to find a place to lay their heads, because unless you had a place to live, you could not be admitted. In 1911, President Littleton Sniff said it was the duty of the school to locate every student who came to college. Therefore, whoever took a student tenant had to discuss the matter with the University first. The institution’s aim was to place students for less than $2.25 per week for room, lighting, heat, inside toilet, and bath. And—these prices were for two in a room.

September of 1945 marked one of the greatest increases in enrollment in the history of TSU due to the GIs returning from WWII on the GI Bill. According to From Carriage to Computer, veterans went door to door begging for a place to stay. Many families that didn’t rent in the past allowed some of the young men to stay in their homes based on patriotic duty. In December of 1945, the college negotiated with government representatives and city officials to open a large trailer park in the southeastern section of Angola to house rising enrollment numbers. As time went on, more accommodations were built. The U.S. government funded barracks for single and married GIs. In 1947, a housing project between Gale and South streets, named Tri-Stan housing, was set to be open for the spring term. Eventually, the college built dormitory-style living for most of its students.

More dormitories were erected, named A, B, C, D, and E. Later, when the original Alwood, Platt, and Cameron were leveled to construct a football field, the alphabetical dorms were renamed Alwood, Platt, Cameron, Fabiani, and Conrad. Dormitory life consisted of double rooms with no females. In fact, the first coeducational and women’s dorms did not come to campus until the 1970’s. Until then, women, like the men who that came before them, lived off campus and commuted to classes. Student living continues to evolve today. Already, five villa-style apartment buildings have been completed in the Campus Village, which house both upperclassmen and honor students.

Progress has already begun on the new student apartments; these suite-style layouts include a private bedroom and restroom area. These new units also will have a recreation area equipped with a pool table, an air hockey table, and a big screen television. In addition, each common area will have a fireplace and small bistro area. This $7 million project will focus on housing smaller groups to foster a sense of community on campus and make domitory style living a thing of the past. The official groundbreaking for the new student apartments was held during Homecoming festivities. In all, eight student apartment buildings will house residential students on TSU’s main campus.