NSU Unveils Extreme Housing Makeover Room in Wyly Hall

NSU students, faculty and staff check out the new common area of Wyly Hall that was remodeled during Extreme Housing Makeover.

TAHLEQUAH To the shouts of Move that bus, the Northeastern State University students living in Wyly Hall got their first glimpse at the newly remodeled Gamer Lounge and Theater they won in the Extreme Housing Makeover competition.

When we first heard about this idea, we had no idea that it would be so successful, said Becca Buster, an NSU student. Everyone really got excited about it.

Inspired by the TV show Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, Extreme Housing Makeover pitted the students living in each of NSUs residence halls against each other in a competition to win a remodel of a hall common area. Completed in roughly 10 days, the lounge area was completely overhauled, with new walls, floors, televisions, game consoles and furniture.

In order for this competition to be success, the students had to increase their participation in events on campus, said Kim Cherry, vice president for Administration. We increased our student participation considerably over the last few months, it was phenomenal to see.

During the fall semester, each residence hall earned points throughout the fall semester by attending university events, hosting programs, participating in Residential Housing Association meetings, creating a hall newsletter and submitting a video detailing why their hall was most deserving of the makeover. Each hall also had the opportunity to submit a general concept of what they wanted in their remodeled room.

The determined students of Wyly Hall, home to NSUs Honors Program, won the contest by hosting over 20 programs during the fall semester and by having their residents participate in the most events on campus.

It is a great testiment to our campus community that our students are active and engaged at events, said Laura Boren, dean of Student Affairs. Those memories you make while living in the residence hall are unforgettable, and for these students, this will be unforgettable.

Many of the supplies and some labor was donated by the Extreme Housing Makeover sponsors. NSU provided $20,000 to the project, while the generous sponsors contributed nearly $40,000, covering both labor and materials.

We appreciate all that our sponsors have done to make this such a great space for our students, said Cherry.

Sponsors for Extreme Housing Makeover include Business Interior, Nabholz Construction, Childers Architect, Action Floors, Lowe's, Building Supply, Sodexo, Chickasaw Telecom, Dell, Sherwin Williams, The Image Group and Tahlequah Lumber.

1/26/2009

Published: 2008-01-26 00:00:00