VCU news

By Mike Porter

The West Grace Street Student Housing-South residence hall, a $29.9-million, five-story, living-learning community with classroom and meeting space, has opened on Virginia Commonwealth University’s Monroe Park Campus.

The residence hall serves as the home of the new VCU ASPiRE -- Academic Scholars Program in Real Environments. ASPiRE is an innovative and comprehensive, four-semester, community engagement-focused, living-learning community for sophomores, which will be expanded to include juniors next year and will eventually include seniors in leadership roles.

“This is the first program of its kind at VCU,” said Cathy Howard, Ph.D., vice provost for community engagement at VCU. “ASPiRE aims to enrich and deepen students’ understanding of their capacity to create positive change in communities through the connection of course work, co-curricular activities and a vibrant residential experience.”

ASPiRE students will be involved in projects with community partners to address community-identified needs in four areas: education, health, sustainability and vibrant communities.

The first 148 sophomores selected for ASPiRE live on the first two floors of the new residence hall. Eventually all 420 residents will be participants in the program.

The West Grace Street Student Housing-South residence hall includes 112 apartment style rooms with washers, dryers and kitchens; 23 study lounges; 13 common lounges; and more than 6,000 square feet of program classroom, meeting and office space on the first floor.

“The brand new apartments were designed to provide a maximum all-around learning-living environment, including classrooms in the building, two courtyards – one with an indoor/outdoor fireplace -- and full apartments that contain washer dryers, two bathrooms, and a full kitchen,” said Reuban B. Rodriguez, Ed.D., associate vice provost and dean of student affairs.

The new residence hall will be joined in August 2013 by another learning-living residence hall directly across Grace Street on the north side. These buildings, along with the current Honors College, located on Grace and Laurel, form the Grace Street Village concept.