As the fall semester kicks off a new year at Saint Anselm College and students move onto campus, both returning and new students admire the most noticeable change to our school: the newly finished Grappone Hall. The nursing building is not the only new thing on campus though. The labs in the basement of Gadbois are all newly renovated and although Joseph Hall may look the same as it did last year, it has now been entirely renovated to be a dorm building. 

Many students in the freshman class are living in the newly renovated Joseph Hall, rather than Joan of Arc or Domonic Hall which are the traditional dorms for freshmen. Joseph Hall, located between Alumni Hall and Saint Anselm Abbey, was once home to classrooms and professors’ offices for the school’s departments for Education, History, Business, and more. After many renovations over the summer, the office spaces now hold student housing accommodations for seventy-nine students. The building has four floors and the rooms are primarily doubles, with a few singles on the bottom floor. Many of the rooms in Joseph Hall are home to students in the Honors Program, although the building is not technically Honors Housing. 

Joseph Hall only has one small common room in its basement, just around the corner from the one water fountain and water bottle filling station, and next to the laundry room. While it is not as big as the common areas in Joan of Arc Hall, it still has all the usual appliances like a fridge and a stove and oven, and it makes up for what it lacks in size with its cozy atmosphere. Though it is small, there are a lot of benefits to living in Joseph Hall. Firstly, Joseph Hall is in the center of campus. It is just across Alumni Quad from the Student Center and Goulet, it is next to the Library, Alumni Hall, Graponne Hall, and the Abbey, and while Davison is down the hill, Joseph Hall is right in front of the Coffee Shop and the Humanities Institute. Additionally, Joseph Hall is an ADA compliant building, which means that it meets the requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act. The building has automatic doors with buttons to open them, wheelchair accessible ramps, and an elevator, as well as accessible bathrooms. Joseph Hall also has air conditioning throughout the whole building and many students have commented on enjoying the porch that overlooks Alumni Quad. 

Although the students living in Joseph Hall seem to appreciate it, students on campus who remember the old building have slightly different opinions. Emily Nathan, a senior, says, “I would say it’s definitely interesting to see students living in Joseph Hall, rather than going there for classes. I am a senior now, but it feels like just yesterday I was going into Joseph Hall for Conversatio as a freshman. I do feel bad for the professors and staff that needed to move everything out of there, especially to those who have been there for a long time now. On the other hand, I do think that making it into housing was somewhat a good idea, especially for this incoming freshman class which is bigger than previous classes. Having an extra space for them so overflow of students into upperclassmen dorms doesn’t get out of control is good.” One of the Resident Assistants for Joseph Hall, Emerson, commented on her experience in the dorm so far. She brought up some of the perks of living there, saying “I love living in Joseph. Joseph has AC, and it is conveniently close to my classes in Goulet and the new nursing building. C-Shop is also close by. I also love the porch!” When asked if there were any downsides to living in Joseph Hall, Emerson replied, “There is only one common area, which is located in the basement and is on the smaller side. However, the residents have not let this stop them from building a strong community.” Another minor issue that Emerson mentioned is that “The scan-in door is all the way around the back of the building, which is a bit inconvenient at times.” Other than the doors to enter Joseph Hall being at the back of the building, the location is ideal and the benefits outweigh the downsides by a lot. Joseph Hall places students right in the center of the Saint Anselm Community, which is a great place for freshmen to learn what it is to be an Anselmian.