Students to move out of Lincoln's Dawson Hall

Hassaun Jones, a freshman business administration major from St. Louis, is one of about 100 Dawson Hall residents being relocated because of low enrollment. (Photo by Elise Eaker)
Hassaun Jones, a freshman business administration major from St. Louis, is one of about 100 Dawson Hall residents being relocated because of low enrollment. (Photo by Elise Eaker)

About 100 Lincoln University students living in Dawson Hall began moving to other campus dorms in a measure to save the university money.

"Dawson Hall is being taken offline for cost-saving measures," said Misty Nunn, director of communications and marketing at Lincoln University. Students are being relocated to other residence halls on campus, she said.

Over the next two weeks, 153 students will be moved to new quarters, she said. Volunteers and staff from residential life will help with the moves.

According to Dawson Hall residents, students were notified last week during a meeting with Brian Bennett, LU's director of residential life and housing.

"They said Dawson is going offline right now due to low enrollment," Hassaun Jones, a freshman business administration major from St. Louis, said Friday. "There's only 100 students in the building, and Dawson holds 300."

Jones said he was notified Thursday he would be moving Friday across campus to Anthony Hall.

Several Dawson residents said students would be moved out according to the floor where they reside. An email distributed across the campus noted the move might take two weeks, providing enough time to limit disruption of studies.

LU officials have talked for many years about replacing Dawson Hall, a 10-story high-rise building. The building, which is more than 50 years old, has faced expensive maintenance issues in the past few years.

In December 2017, the Board of Curators was told the university was looking at $10 million just to renovate the residence hall.

At that meeting, curators approved spending $349,500 to replace air conditioning chillers for Dawson Hall. They also discussed spending $186,400 to replace an electrical transformer and switch inside the building. Other immediate needs that were identified included plumbing and sewer pipe issues and the elevators.

News Tribune reporters contributed to this article.