University Suites is Dynamic Addition to Campus Lfe, City Landscape
09/17/2013
Contacts: Nancy Cicco, 978-934-4944 or Nancy_Cicco@uml.edu, Christine Gillette, 978-934-2209 or Christine_Gillette@uml.edu
* Media Advisory *
Thursday, Sept. 19
1 p.m.
What: The UMass Lowell community, along with state and local leaders, will celebrate the opening of University Suites, a $54 million residence hall that is setting a new standard for student living. It is the sixth new building UMass Lowell has opened in the last year and the second, brand-new, suite-style residence hall opened for the fall semester, helping to answer student housing demand. Enrollment at UMass Lowell has grown 40 percent since 2007 and approximately 4,000 students live in university housing this fall.
The contemporary University Suites is home to 472 students and includes 88 four- and six-bed suites that feature living rooms and kitchenettes; eight common lounge areas with full kitchens; Wi-Fi and other technology throughout the building; a glass-fronted living room with a fireplace; the Hawk’s Nest Café, open to students and the public for grab-and-go meals during the day and Asian-fusion cuisine in the evening, along with Red Mango frozen yogurt and Starbucks coffee; quiet conference rooms and study areas; and a multi-purpose room that can accommodate groups as large as 126 people. Residents include students in the university’s Commonwealth Honors Program who are part of one of UMass Lowell’s living-learning communities, which enable students with similar interests and goals to live together to forge common bonds and participate in programming that builds on their educational experience.
Tours of the building will be available after the speaking program. Speakers are scheduled to include UMass Lowell Chancellor Marty Meehan; state Reps. Thomas Golden Jr. ’93, ’01 and David Nangle; Richard Freeland, commissioner of the Massachusetts Department of Higher Education; Lowell Mayor Patrick Murphy; UMass Board of Trustees Chairman Henry Thomas III; UMass Building Authority Chairman Philip Johnston; UMass Lowell Executive Vice Chancellor Jacqueline Moloney; Laurence Siegel, UMass Lowell associate vice chancellor of student affairs and events; UMass Student Trustee Philip Geoffroy, a UMass Lowell student from Chelmsford; and Alicia Negron, University Suites assistant resident director and a biology major from South Windsor, Conn.
University Suites is a striking addition to a neighborhood that includes the Campus Recreation Center, LeLacheur Park and other residence halls. Surveys of students have shown that more want to live on East Campus, which is within walking distance to the Tsongas Center at UMass Lowell and the city’s vibrant downtown.
Where: University Suites, East Campus, 327 Aiken St., Lowell. For directions and parking information, please contact UMass Lowell media relations.