College and Shango halls, two of the oldest and most historic buildings on campus, will begin renovations at the start of the spring 2026 semester amid quality-of-life complaints and concerns over preserving the building’s history.
The mixed-use academic and residential halls will undergo complete demolition before being rebuilt as a new 10,000 square-foot academic building, estimated to be finished in 2030.
At the start of the renovation, residents of the two halls will be relocated to Gage Hall, which will be undergoing a bathroom renovation to accommodate the influx of students. Following that, the finished addition of a fourth floor in Awosting Hall and the current renovation to Mohonk Hall, which adds a fourth floor, aim to prevent the loss of any on-campus housing.
According to the university’s Campus Improvements and Construction webpage, the new building will host “modern classrooms, faculty offices, meeting spaces, rehearsal areas for musicians and other amenities.”
The two halls, both built in 1951, are being demolished due to reaching the end of their “functional lifespan.” According to Executive Director of Communication Andrew Bruso, this means that “a building can no longer meet contemporary standards for serving our students, faculty and staff, and that the issues are significant enough that they cannot be addressed through renovation or retrofitting.”
According to that same webpage, the building is facing issues of “accessibility, energy efficiency and other quality standards.”
“For that reason, state and campus experts determined that a total demolition would be necessary,” Bruso said.
The two buildings have served various purposes since they were first built, starting out as purely academic buildings in the 1950s, later hosting the campus’ first dining hall and student union. In the 1960s, the buildings were renovated into residential halls “open to all students and with emphasis on providing programming and community for the campus’ growing population of students of color.”
The buildings housed the Department of Black Studies, along with other programming such as the Scholars’ Mentorship Program and the Martin Luther King Jr. Educational Center.
Painted along the walls of the dorms are murals, many of which were hand-painted by the students who used to live in the dorms. These murals, painted throughout the decades, are expressions of Black history and empowerment.
“These murals are not mere decorative elements; they are political expressions of identity and resistance, embedded in a sacred environment that speaks to the lived experiences and history of Black students and the Department of Black Studies,” said Department of Black Studies Lecturer Anthony Dandridge.
These murals will be unable to be preserved in the demolition due to the building materials used. “The wall surfaces are more fragile than what is commonly used now,” Bruso said. “The wall surfaces cannot be separated from the wall structure without the surfaces cracking, crumbling and destroying the murals.”
“These structures are not simply outdated facilities; they are living archives of struggle, resilience and community empowerment,” Dandridge said.
To preserve the murals, the school states it “has digitally scanned and photographed these works of art to make it possible for them to be reproduced in the future.”
When asked if the school had any plans to reproduce the work, Bruso stated that there weren’t any existing plans, but there are ongoing discussions. “There have been discussions about ensuring that the new iterations will be on media (such as canvas) that would not be permanently affixed to any one spot,” Bruso said. “The intention is for them to reside in multiple prominent spaces, both in the new building and across campus.”
Bruso also stated that the school had discussions with the Department of Black Studies about how to honor and preserve the murals prior to demolition.
According to Dandridge, he was not aware of any in-depth discussions between the Department of Black Studies and the school about the future of the murals and called for those discussions to happen. “Only then can we ensure that the reproductions and any future plans honor the full cultural and historical significance of the art, as well as the sacred legacy of these buildings.”
“Even though it can’t be preserved because of the material, if they try and scan it, or try to canvas it, obviously it’s not the original piece, you don’t get that same effect as you viewing and you looking at the [original] piece, but it’s a start,” third-year journalism major and Fahari Libertad member Quincy Simmons said.
Simmons suggested adding a QR code to any future replications, which would show the original picture and a biography about what the murals originally were. He believes that any future replications should be placed throughout the basement of Old Main and the Black Studies Department.
Dandridge believes any replications should be displayed in the new building, which he states should be named Chango, after the God of War in Yoruba mythology, and a symbol of protection, strength and resistance. According to Dandridge, Shango Hall was originally named Chango.
He also had concerns over temporary, transportable replications, feeling that they may not capture the power and significance of the original murals.
“The act of scanning is an important first step, yet without a concrete plan for preserving and recontextualizing these murals, the effort may become a token gesture,” Dandridge said.
“The buildings, their names and the art they house form a tapestry of memory and political struggle, an integral part of our collective heritage that demands careful stewardship,” he continued.
Students who live in the two dorms also gave their thoughts on the renovations. “I think they definitely need to build a plaque or something commemorating what was here,” Rebecca Loeffel, a first-year journalism major living in College Hall said.
Despite this, Loeffel still believes the dorms need to be renovated. “I don’t think I’ll be living here next semester. I’m going to do everything in my power to not [live here],” Loeffel said. “It’s disgusting.”
Loeffel stated various issues they had with living in College Hall, including concerns over mold and heating water. “The showers in this building are possibly the worst things I have ever experienced,” they said.
According to Loeffel, the vents above the showers are full of a black substance they believe to be mold, and which falls on them while they are showering. They also shared that hall administration sent out an email to residents, telling them to run hot water through one of the bathroom’s sinks if they want hot water in the shower. A sign posted to the door of a bathroom also stated this message.
Other students like Cam James, a first-year education major living in Shango Hall, described constantly being sick since moving into the dorm. “I was thinking, maybe this is just an adjustment to a new space,” James said. “I ended up getting a whole host of blood tests, because they were concerned that I had issues with my thyroid and that came back negative. So their suspicion is that it was mold.”
Emily Archer, a first-year student living in Shango Hall also witnessed mold. “My dorm doesn’t have mold in it, but all the showers have mold in them,” she said.
Despite this, she still stated she will be sad to see the dorm demolished. “I’m so happy to live here this last semester. There are a lot of gross things about it, but I feel like it’s such a charming dorm, and it has a lot of good things about it.”
According to Bruso, the school is “not aware of any cases of “showers filled with mold” in Shango/College Hall,” and that if a report is made, it is investigated by the Office of Environmental Health & Safety. Bruso stated that typically, “the issue is something other than mold, and we address those issues with Facilities Management staff.”
