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SALT LAKE CITY — Shortly after taking the reins of the University of Utah as the school's 17th president, Taylor Randall said that he wanted to "dispel the perception of the U. as a commuter campus."
While that work has been ongoing, Friday represented another milestone in the journey as the U. held a grand opening for the Katharine B. Garff Honors Tower — the final wing of the Kahlert Village first-year student housing project at the University of Utah.
"A number of years ago, we set about to start building some college town magic here at the University of Utah," Randall said. "We know when students live on campus that they graduate faster. We know when students live on campus, they build deeper connections to the university but also to their own friends."
Opened in the fall of 2020, the Kahlert Village houses most of the U.'s first-year class with more than 990 students calling it home. A unique aspect of the village is that it is made up of themed buildings that include first-year honors (the building dedicated Friday), STEM initiatives, health and wellness, community engagement, the College of Science, an engineering floor and outdoor leadership.
Along with serving as a residence for first-year honors students, music will also be a theme of the Katharine B. Garff Honors Tower with dedicated, soundproof music rooms for students.
"They actually brought in three soundproof rooms and had to install them specially, so that students can go into them and unwind or reflect or practice or realize, intrinsically, how beautiful music is in their lives," Katharine Garff said. "I'm proud of these student who will be living here in these dorms and hopefully they will find peace within themselves as they pursue their intellectual, their emotional and their spiritual growth at the University of Utah."
With the addition of the fourth and final wing of the village, the university has added an additional 430 beds, giving the village the capacity to house over 1,400 first-year students.
It is a warm environment that feels like a home away from home. Every student in the Honors Tower enjoys the feeling of staying in a brand-new facility. It is a place where brilliant minds come together to learn, grow and inspire each other.
– Wyatt Manygoats, University of Utah freshman
Wyatt Manygoats is a first-year honors student at the U. studying chemistry with an emphasis in biology and called living in the Katharine B. Garff Honors Tower "a dream come true."
"It is a warm environment that feels like a home away from home. Every student in the Honors Tower enjoys the feeling of staying in a brand-new facility. It is a place where brilliant minds come together to learn, grow and inspire each other," Manygoats said. "This tower will be a hub of creativity, collaboration and intellectual growth."
Despite the completion of the Kahlert Village, Randall and the rest of the U.'s leadership are still looking to bring more housing options to campus, expanding options for first-year students and those who have completed their first year, alike.
Randall said that in the coming years, he expects another 1,200 beds to be completed, including 775 beds at the Impact and Prosperity Epicenter, which will open in August 2024.
"With that, we'll be able to house ... our entire freshman class but then also start housing a lot of our second-year class," Randall said. "Once we get there, right, you've got critical mass so that students will want to be here and want to live on campus."
