University Place Residence Halls at Mississippi College Shaping Up

University Place residence halls under construction at Mississippi College's East Campus.

University Place is the new name of residence halls under construction at Mississippi College.

“Students took an interest in helping name the new residence halls,” says Jim Turcotte, vice president for enrollment services and dean of students.

Following input from the Student Government Association, the MC administration recently selected the name University Place. “It is fitting for the size and scope of Mississippi College,” Turcotte said.

MC students like Anna Barnes of Saint Louis, Missouri are thrilled to see the new residence halls rising on the East Campus. The housing units are the first to be built at the Baptist-affiliated university in nearly two decades.

“I’m excited. I want to live there next year,” says Barnes, an MC junior. “I want my own room and want to cook.”

University Place will provide kitchens, more space, nice lighting and other modern amenities to make students feel right at home.

Anna says she enjoys seeing the progress of the facilities as she watches from Baptist Healthplex windows between workouts.

“This will be a good transition from the dorms,” says MC freshman Lacy Pigfoid of Terry.

MC students seeking to live at University Place during the 2015-16 academic year will get the opportunity to sign up in April. Residents will be chosen based upon seniority.

“We anticipate that students who will be seniors and juniors next year will fill all the beds,” Turcotte said. “We will continue to allow students to sign up until it is full.”

At the moment, women will be assigned to five of the eight buildings and two others will go to men. The 8^th unit will be filled by either MC men or women, depending on demand.

Construction is on schedule and to be completed on July 17, weather permitting. Students will begin moving in by late August, school administrators say. The units will have space for 189 beds. MC enrolls more than 5,000 students and has experienced a squeeze on housing as enrollment climbed for more than a decade.

The new units “will offer students an attractive residential option and assist us in meeting our current demands for campus housing,” says Steve Stanford, vice president for administration and government affairs. “The project also enables us to further extend activities onto the East Campus.”

The East Campus includes the site of the former Clinton Junior High that MC purchased a few years ago. It presently houses Art Department offices, work space and classrooms for graduate students. In addition, the MC Band Hall is located there.

MC students living in University Place can expect to pay more money than other residence halls, Stanford said. Residents won’t be required to purchase university meal plans since individual units have their own kitchens.

The rapid construction is obvious to shoppers at the Kroger off U.S. 80 to people driving along nearby streets.

The design of the eight units known as University Place and the green spaces being designed are a good fit to the Olde Towne Clinton area, Stanford said. “It adds to our already attractive campus.”

The construction project will include the eight units, green spaces, retaining walls, parking areas and an inner street connecting College Street and Fairmont Street. There also will be two parallel sidewalks added to the large green field fronting the Clinton Parkway.

Probity Contracting Group is serving as the project’s main contractor. Dean & Dean/Associates Architects is the architectural firm for University Place.