Campus Wide, Residence Life, Student Life

Ceremonial groundbreaking held for residence hall

By Jenna Johnson | April 30, 2025

CSU administration, staff, faculty, students, and alumni celebrated the ceremonial groundbreaking for the newest residence hall to be constructed this year. Photo by Dan Steffy

Charleston Southern University held a ceremonial groundbreaking on Tuesday, April 29 in celebration of the new residence hall construction set for this summer. The new building will mirror Barbara C. Mead Hall, built in 2019.

“It’s an historic day for Charleston Southern,” President B. Keith Faulkner said, addressing the crowd of students, alumni, faculty, staff, and board members. “Look around—60 years ago, this campus was just dirt. We’re just so blessed to be here, and we want to continue to ask for God’s blessings as we grow this university.”

Construction is set to break ground this summer and be completed by August of 2026—in time to welcome Buccaneers that fall semester. The newest three-story suite-style residence hall will house 216 students.

Brittney Greer, associate VP for student life, said, “As we turn the soil today, we are planting seeds for the future. Seeds of community, seeds of transformation, seeds of hope. May this be a place where dreams are nurtured, where talents are discovered and where every life glorifies God.”

With an increase in housing demand each year since Mead Hall, the university has utilized the Wingate Hotel on its campus for overflow housing—filling it for the last three years. The new 52,000-square-foot building will stand beside Mead Hall with a courtyard between the two residences for students to enjoy a fun outdoor community space.

Krystal Guntinas, a senior and current resident assistant, said that CSU was never just a university to her. “It has been my home—I came here from the Philippines thousands of miles away from everything I was familiar with. But it did not take long before this place and the people made me feel like I belonged. It was here on this campus that I truly met Jesus. In the middle of late-night talks with my roommates, long walks back from the library, moments of loneliness, moments of pure joy—He found me.”

She added, “CSU did not just give me a place to live, it gave me a place where my life was changed forever.”