In our lives, doors lead to newer paths. A path to a newer direction.

Millersville University of Pennsylvania has been heading toward the new path of suite-style on-campus housing. To complete its new residence hall construction, the Housing Department decided to reinstate the names from the now demolished residence halls.

At a town hall meeting that occurred in September 2016 , all resident assistants (RA’s) on campus were notified of the new residence halls being renamed.

These changes have begun to appear on campus housing. On October 13, 2016, workers began installing the names onto the buildings.

The new changes in regards to the residence halls have and will impact future generations of Marauders. The trend will continue once more, as students will now experience changes in campus lingo.

However, students don’t have to worry about changing their mailing addresses this year. The changes will go into effect next academic year.

The names will be used formally for online housing selection this coming spring semester.

“By attaching some the school spirit tied to names like Burrowes, it allows the students to have an identity that’s different,” Associate Vice President, Dr. Michelle Pérez said. “We underestimate the impact of a name. It provides a different identity to a space other than a serial number.”

Perez is responsible for student engagement on campus, with specialties in housing and residential programs. She is also involved with the Center for Student Involvement and Leadership, campus recreation, new student orientation, and serves as faculty advisor to Student Senate.

“When all the old buildings were knocked down, there were a number of alumni and students were sad to see the buildings go,” Dr. Perez stated.

All of the names of the now demolished older residence halls, will be restored.

For example, East Village B will now be known as Hull Hall.

“We wanted to uphold the rich history and tradition of the names,” Brian Hazlett, the Vice President for Student Affairs and Enrollment Management said.

Each wing of all the new buildings will have a name. The Marauder Suites (pods) and the East and West courtyards are listed as a future naming opportunities.

By doing that, the University hopes that alumni will come back and see the names of their old halls being used again.

“We will work with each wing to make sure they have an understanding of the naming and the rich history that comes with it,” Hazlett said.

The Council of Trustees received a request from the Department of Student Affairs and Enrollment Management to have that be placed on the agenda. He worked with her team and the Council of Trustees to determine name selection and location of the names.

Dr. Perez also mentions how they were hoping to have the names figured out sooner. For example, West Village would be named Diehm and Harbold because it’s located where those two old halls physically stood.

Because of how some of the older buildings were still in use at the time, those names technically couldn’t be used. So, they decided to wait until the entire project was completed to decide on which name is going to be associated with its specific building.

Dr. Perez stated that naming any building, room, free space on campus must be approved by the Council of Trustees. She produced a memo with the layout of the Villages labeled with its assigned name. She also labeled free areas as “future naming opportunities.” It was then presented to University President John Anderson and the University vice presidents, the cabinet.

Since they were reusing older names, the process of introducing them to the Council of Trustees wasn’t as difficult.

However, whenever they do plan on naming those areas designated as future naming opportunities, then the process becomes more in-depth and follows a whole different criteria.

The Council of Trustees at Millersville University range from local businessmen to retired faculty and staff. Most of them hold their residences within the Lancaster County area with some extending far out as Harrisburg.

Since Millersville is a part of the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education, members of the Council are appointed by the Governor of Pennsylvania.

“Having worked on a campus with a lot of buildings unnamed, it created an environment that was often a corporate feeling,” Hazlett said.

Perez said that the name change preserves the memory of the experiences of alumni and retired faculty and staff.

She hopes that students will associate themselves with the new names and eventually create new stories and histories with them.

“I look forward to seeing what students do with it,” Dr. Perez said. “Once the villages have their wing names, I look forward seeing what personalities come from that.”

The design of the newly constructed residence halls follows the suite-style on-campus housing trend. In these rooms, people can choose to share a bedroom or have their own private bedroom. Students who live in the newly constructed on-campus housing complexes have private in-room bathrooms.

On the contrary, the recently demolished residence halls had communal bathrooms with bedrooms that housed two, three or four people.

One of the reasons why people were sad to see them go was how they gave off a friendlier vibe. People would have their doors open, which made community building a lot easier.

The new suites have doors that remain closed, especially the singles.

Communal bathrooms made communication and interaction with other residents a daily occurrence and forced people to get out of their rooms.

One person who experienced living in the older residence halls is senior Joe Gratz, who lived in Gilbert Hall. He said it offered a lot of community because most of his floor was part of his freshman orientation group. Doors were always kept open for friends to come in and hangout.

“I think the RA's could be imperative with keeping a sense of dorm community on the campus,” Gratz said. “The newer halls offer community with your four-person pod, not your floor.”

“We want students to have a strong sense of belonging and it starts for those living on campus with their residence hall community,” Hazlett said. “We also felt that the names would foster a stronger connection to the buildings for the students.”

Amongst current students, the name change has stirred controversy.

Some students are questioning the value of it. One on-campus student stated that she prefers the newer residence halls being called “South, West and East” because it’s directional and simple to remember.

West Village resident Reed Huntzinger thinks that the University should not change the names because they lived their life as the old era. He sees the names “East, South and West” as a part of a new era for Millersville.

Sophomore Josh Neff stated that even though the alumni loves it, newer age students are confused and having a hard time keeping up with it.

“I would say that freshmen may not grasp the importance of the names across campus,” Hazlett said. “However, by the time they leave the meanings of the names start to resonate with the students.”

Dr. Perez thinks that the changes are essential for the long-term development of a community.

“It has an impact that we are unaware of,” Dr. Perez said. “It does create and enhance the opportunity to build a community.”

The buildings may look different, but they will still be there. No matter what students call them, the communities that emerge will last a lifetime.