T/W and Changes to Campus Housing

To the Campus Community:

For the past 51 years, Travers and Wolfe halls have been part of our campus landscape and a large part of the first-year experience for generations of TCNJ/TSC students. Many students and alumni have a sentimental connection with these buildings, which has factored into the college’s planning as the Towers approach the end of their useful life.

In 2015, the college drew up plans to take the buildings down and replace them with low-rise residence halls, but those were set aside due to cost and student opposition. In 2017, we proposed renovating one tower at a time, but that, too, was cost-prohibitive. More recently, the college has been exploring alternatives that involve new village-style housing on the perimeter of our campus.

As we have weighed our options, the college has continued to invest in maintaining the Towers. This month, T/W experienced several building systems issues. While this did not impact students’ safety, it detracted from the kind of residential experience TCNJ seeks to offer. Considering this, the college has decided to accelerate its plans to replace T/W.

Effective for fall 2022, we will begin reducing occupancy levels in the Towers to focus our facilities investment and improve the residential experience. We remain committed to prioritizing first- and second-year students for on-campus housing. We also expect to accommodate a significant number of upper-division students who are interested in living on campus via a lottery process and a waitlist.

The college is aggressively pursuing the development of new residences in conjunction with external partners. I look forward to sharing more details about these exciting plans in the near future. Our goal is to have these facilities ready by fall 2024, at which time T/W’s doors will close permanently.

Sincerely,

Digital copy of Kathryn A. Foster's signature.

Kathryn A. Foster
President