McDavis Hall, the newly constructed 600-bed facility, is set to open in the fall of 2026 when students move in, according to Jneanne Hacker, executive director of Housing and Residence Life.
The residence hall was approved for construction by the Ohio University Board of Trustees in April 2024, according to Ohio University's website.
The hall was named after OU President Emeritus Roderick J. McDavis, the university’s first African American president, as well as the second alumnus to be president. While he started as a student in 1966, his tenure as president was from 2004 to 2017.
“We’re really proud of McDavis Hall, not only because it’s a new construction, and I believe that it’s an award-winning design, but it also gives us an amazing opportunity to rebrand and reimagine what South Green becomes,” Hacker said.
Hacker said East Green and West Green have a strong sense of identity, while over the years, South Green has lost its identity.
“(McDavis Hall) will draw students in in such a way that will help not only build community within the facility itself but help build community on South Green,” Hacker said.
McDavis Hall is located behind the "Front Four”: Pickering, Brown, MacKinnon and Crawford. The new facility is meant to draw students more toward the southern area of campus.
“We felt that it was important that both our first-year and second-year students had the opportunity to call this facility home,” Hacker said. “Half the building will be allotted to first-year students. Half the building will be allocated to rising second-year students, and then we will have some upper-class students who choose to stay on campus their third and fourth year, who have selected into McDavis as well.”
Hacker said construction has been going smoothly, and the building will be turned over officially to Housing and Residence Life at the beginning of May.
The first phase of the Housing Master Plan, approved in October 2022, was the construction of McDavis. The plan also includes taking the "Back South" halls offline and renovating during the school year, then demolishing some halls on South Green.
“However, we are committed to going back and reevaluating the housing master plan, just to make sure that our decisions and the planning principles that we built those decisions upon are still true,” Hacker said.
The plan includes four levels of updates to bring all of the university's residential spaces up to “a common standard," according to OU’s website.
With general room selection from March 23-26, McDavis was an option for students to choose.
Aniyah Owens, a freshman studying entrepreneurship and marketing, chose to live in McDavis Hall for her second year.
“I’m really excited to know that there’s not going to be mold,” Owens said. “I'm thankful for the fact that we have our own washers, and it’s going to be big enough to be able to meet new people.”
McDavis will be 180,000 square feet and house 590 students, making it the largest residence hall on campus.
Owens said she is excited to see the layout and the suites in McDavis.
According to OU’s website, the hall will feature pod-style residential communities and focus on community and common areas.
“We engaged a variety of stakeholders, from faculty, staff, campus partners, but most importantly, students,” Hacker said. “Student voice was critically important as we envisioned what McDavis became.”
