DOVER, Del.- Delaware State University is rapidly growing and a new state of the art dorm is now open to help with that. School officials and sponsors cut the ribbon on Thursday morning for a new home for over 600 students.
The Tubman Laws Hall is a five-story residential hall. The building is named after abolitionist Harriet Tubman and Lydia Laws, a pioneer in education. School officials say the building is in their memory and they hope their legacies will continue to live on at DSU. It is the largest dorm on campus and has a modern feel in the inside.
The building includes suite style dorms, study areas with modern technology and a new dining hall. Morgan Walker is a junior at DSU and she is one of the many living in the Tubman Laws Hall. Walkers says the history behind this dorm speaks volumes.
"Harriet Tubman had a huge impact for black people as a whole especially through slavery. This is a historically black college or university (HBCU). At one point this campus was a plantation and we like to honor those people who have made great strides in our history," explains Walker.
Board members of Delaware State University say this new dorm is a place to enter to learn and go forth to serve. This is modeled after Harriet Tubman and Lydia Laws.
As the number of students keep increasing, DSU says there was an urgent need to prove new housing for students. School officials said the dorms at the time were not cutting it and needed to be demolished. Tubman and Laws halls, were two of the oldest residential facilities on campus. Vice President of Student Affairs Stacy Downing says they made sure to keep the history of the former dorms.
"When you do a tour of the new building, you see different buildings within the city of Dover. It is displayed on the walls throughout the building. We want students to remember or learn that we just didn't come in 2019," says Downing.
Bernard Carr and his sister Beverly Banks were of one of the many alumni to celebrate the new addition. Beverly was a resident in the former Tubman Hall. She says the ribbon ceremony brought her to tears.
"I remember both of the woman's facilities when I once went here. It's sad one way to see them torn down, but with this new building, it's excellent.
Board members say this building would of not been possible without of the support of their partnership with the American Campus community to make this become a reality. The Tubman Laws Hall has been open since the start of 2019-2020 school year.
