Opened in 1965, Andrews Hall was the first high-rise building built on campus at a cost of $2.5 million. The nine-floor tower was built to house 485 women and was the second phase of the bond revenue project. The structure is comprised of eight residential floors, each housing approximately 60 women. The basement provides a large gathering space for programming and socializing.

In 2000, larger rooms called “Deluxe Doubles” were created and offered for student occupancy. The rooms were two former double rooms, joined by a door. The idea was students could use one room as a living room and another as their sleeping area. The rooms were offered for a few years but then restored to their former configuration as popularity decreased. In the fall of 2011, the Deluxe Doubles were made available once again to interested students in Thomas and Andrews Halls.

The women of Andrews hall have always been interested in providing service to the community by hosting multiple blood drives and several events to raise money for those in need. This includes a 1999 dance that according to the Daily Eastern News was to raise funds for flooding in Mexico. 

Ruth Carman Hall, although officially completed on November 14, 1971, opened its doors to the first “Carmanites” on September 4, 1970. The ten-story North Tower housed 397 women while the top floor was still under construction. Strikes and lack of materials contributed to its incompletion in its first semester of operation. In a petition to President Quincy Doudna, Carmanites expressed their frustrations with “no food service, no laundry facilities, no recreation room, and no lighted walkways.” The women of Carman Hall collected 308 signatures that ultimately led to a $12.00 reduction of fees for the Fall semester and a $1.00 per week reduction for the Spring semester for the continuation of construction into the Spring. The Carman Hall food services were completed on January 13, 1971.

In the Fall of 1971, Carman Hall became one of the first coed buildings on Eastern’s campus when the nine-story South Tower opened for male occupants. The addition of the South Tower made Carman the largest residence hall complex on campus.

The dedication of Carman Hall took place on Sunday, November 14, 1971. Carman Capers, the hall’s newspaper, reported that residents of Carman served as entertainment and ceremony leaders for the dinner. The ceremony was attended by Ruth Carman and her closest family, University President Gilbert Fite, Vice President Glenn Williams, and Dean of Housing Donald Kluge.

Ruth Carman, an Eastern alumna, was the first former student to have a building dedicated in her honor. Construction costs for the two tower, 816 bed building neared five million dollars.

Ford Hall opened as temporary housing in 1959. As the demand for on-campus housing options increased, the administration recognized the need for Ford to become a permanent residence hall. 

Ford Hall was named for Ellen Ford who served at Eastern from 1900 to 1934. She was born in 1865 and graduated with her Master of Arts degree in Latin from Syracuse University in 1894. Miss Ford taught Latin and German, and became the first Dean of the Teacher’s College, serving from 1918 to 1934. She also served as President Livingston Lord’s “most important assistant” where she was principally responsible for the reorganization of the institution from a normal school to a teacher’s college in 1921. Miss Ford passed away on June 13, 1948, at her retirement home in Syracuse, New York.

Ford’s construction cost $530,000.

Lawson Hall was the second high-rise building on campus and was built as a mirror image of Andrews Hall. The hall officially opened in 1967 as an additional all-female housing option with 480 beds. Lawson was the fourth and final building in the bond revenue series and completed the residential building in the South Quad.

In 1988 Director of Housing Lou Hencken implemented a procedure to enhance security measures in Lawson Hall as well as Andrews and Carman. On August 25, 1988, the Daily Eastern News announced that residents were now required to have a key to use the elevators. This prevented unescorted persons from having access
to the floors. The procedure is still used today.

The ladies of Lawson reveled in creative programming with events such as Mother’s Weekend and a program for brides-to-be. They were also very involved in pertinent campus issues which directly affected their lives. In the fall of 1990, the parking lot across from Lawson and Taylor Halls was changed to only allow faculty and staff parking. The residents collectively pushed for part of the lot to be student parking. After a semester of raising their voices, the Daily Eastern News announced on January 24, 1991, that majority of the lot would be reverted to student spaces.

In 2002, Lawson became the temporary home for the Fine Arts Departments while the three-year construction project of the Doudna Fine Arts Center was underway. The departments occupied the second and third-floor residential spaces. Today, the second-floor space has been renovated and dedicated to Conference Services, and provides a place for housing guests to stay. 

Lincoln Hall, in conjunction with its male counterpart, Powell-Norton Hall (formerly Douglas Hall), was completed in 1952. Lincoln was intended to house men until the need for female housing - 44 years after the construction of Pemberton Hall - was realized.

Designed to house 194 occupants in 77 rooms with six bathrooms, Lincoln offered the women's laundry facilities, a common dining room, a recreation room, and several kitchenettes. Per a Daily Eastern News article from March 1952, students were excited about the contemporary design and furnishings and compared it to a hotel: “The furniture is in three color schemes – soft red, dainty green and gray…while every room is furnished with draperies and bedspreads.”

As more residence halls were built and the campus population grew, more housing spaces for men were needed. In 1959, Lincoln Hall began to house only men and did so until 1966.

In the summer of 2010, Lincoln Hall underwent major renovations for the remodeling of the bathroom styles in the hall corridors. Traditional-style community bathrooms were replaced by “pods” which are semi-private restrooms and shower rooms with a common area sink. The space needed for the new pods eliminated six residential rooms, and cost an estimated $4 million.

The total cost of construction for Lincoln and Powell-Norton Halls totaled $900,000.

McKinney Hall opened as temporary housing in 1959.  As the demand for on-campus housing options increased, the administration recognized the need for McKinney to become a permanent residence hall. McKinney housed 150 upper-class women.

McKinney Hall was named for Isabel McKinney who served at Eastern from 1904 to 1945. She was born in 1879 and graduated with a Master of Arts in English degree from Columbia University. Miss McKinney taught English and was head of the English Department from 1922 to 1945. She was the author of the biography of Livingston Lord, Eastern’s first serving president. She also wrote the words to our institution’s Alma Mater. Her last visit to campus was in October 1957, to look over the plans for the building to be named in her honor. She said it was one of the greatest honors in her life. 

McKinney’s construction cost $530,000.

Mr. Lord reported to the Board of Trustees his desire for building a women’s dormitory in 1900. He expressed his ideas on how, “the building is absolutely necessary if the school was to cultivate in its students a spirit that its graduates should take into the communities in which they teach.” The request was taken to the governor in hopes of blessings for the project as well as funding to complete it. Despite these arguments, the governor did not respond.

After seven years and with the assistance of Senator Stanton C. Pemberton, funding for the project got approved. The final proposal was for $100,000 and included the construction of not only the residence hall, but a gymnasium which was to be directly connected to the women’s dormitory.

Throughout over 100 years, Pemberton has seen thousands of women through its corridors, each one leaving their unique mark on the building. The pride which is instilled in every resident is shown through the passion for Pemberton Parliament, which is Pemberton’s governing board. This passion is also present in Phi Epsilon Mu, which was Pemberton’s long-standing service sorority.

The women of Pemberton still have many traditions they follow today, such as decorating the building for holidays, door decorations in the staircase, providing finals snacks, respecting visiting hours, and making lifelong friends and connections.

In preparation for celebrating the 100-year anniversary of Pemberton Hall, the building went through a yearlong renovation which included new hardwood flooring in the lobby and piano lounge area, and new paint, woodwork and molding. Former residents, staff, and administrators of EIU were invited for the celebration.

The sense of pride the women of Pemberton have can still be found in the words, “To Pemberton we will be grateful, to you we will be true. Our Hearts you’ve won, dear Pemberton of good old EIU.”

Historical Information about Pemberton Hall

The construction of Powell-Norton Hall (formerly Douglas Hall) began in early 1951 and the hall opened for students on September 8, 1952. Powell-Norton Hall was the first residence hall at Eastern Illinois University to house men, as the student population grew and the need to provide housing for all students arose. The original occupancy for Powell-Norton was 194 beds.

Much like Lincoln Hall, Powell-Norton had amenities including a separate dining room, recreational rooms, kitchenettes, common floor lounges, and laundry facilities. In order to live in Powell-Norton, students were required to meet with the Dean of Men and put down a $10.00 deposit.

In its first year, and each year since Powell-Norton has housed men interested in athletics. In 1952-53 Powell-Norton had three intramural sports teams including football, tennis, and basketball. The residents of Powell-Norton also enjoyed spending time with the ladies of Lincoln and joined them for events such as building the Homecoming floats, making house decorations, Wednesday visitation nights, and a Christmas social.

In the summer of 2009, the traditional community bathrooms were replaced with semi-private “pod” style bathrooms. The bathroom style lets students enjoy a semi-private restroom and shower facility with a community sink area. The cost of this project was approximately $3.5 million.

Powell-Norton was renamed in April 2022 to honor Zella Powell and Ona Norton.  Zella Powell is believed to be EIU's first Black graduate, earning a degree from Eastern State Normal School in 1910. Ona Norton was the matriarch of a cherished Black family in Charleston, IL. in the 1950's, in a time when it was difficult for students of color to find off-campus housing in Charleston.

Constructed in 1968 at over 2 million dollars, Stevenson Hall remains the tallest point in Coles County. The hall was originally known as the Stevenson Memorial Tower, after former governor of Illinois Adlai E. Stevenson II who also served as the ambassador to the United Nations from 1961-1965. In addition to his service as governor and ambassador, Adlai E. Stevenson II also ran for the presidency of the United States on two separate occasions in 1952 and 1956. Stevenson Hall was dedicated on February 18, 1969, with the namesake’s son, Adlai Stevenson III, present at the ceremony.

Stevenson Hall remained an all-male residence hall until 1973 when the gentlemen of Stevenson successfully argued that the hall should become a coed building. During the 1973 academic year, three floors of Stevenson Hall were designated as coed. This setup remained until 1976 when four additional floors became coed. The rest of the building followed shortly after, making Stevenson Hall the only residence hall on campus to offer coeducational floor communities.

Stevenson hall offers a tenth-floor study area, kitchenette, and conference room with an amazing view of the campus and beyond. The building is unique for several other reasons. Stevenson Hall is the only residence hall offering suite-style accommodations for residents. Suites include four and six-person designs that are a favorite for many students who want to live with more than one or two of their closest friends. While suites remain comprised of residents of the same sex, the coeducational floors remain a draw for many. Suite set-ups offer a shared bathroom and living area that allow residents to enjoy a different feel from the traditional communities in other halls on campus. Stevenson Hall also requires that residents obtain 30 completed post high school credit hours or be at least twenty-one years of age.

Taylor Hall opened to 592 male students in September 1966 after completion of the $3.2 million project. The building was comprised of two wings, each with five residential floors, a main community lobby, and a front desk. Taylor Hall was supposed to mirror Thomas Hall, which had four floors. However, because of the decline in the terrain, the building would have appeared lower than Thomas. Taylor was designed to have five floors, one being half underground to make the two buildings appear even.

The transition to Taylor for the men who once lived in Lincoln and Powell-Norton (formerly Douglas Hall) Halls was not an easy one, nor collaborative. Students did not want to unite immediately, as they had rich, but separate, hall histories from their previous buildings. Eventually a south council and north council were formed, each providing unique programs to residents. There were two full-time directors and four graduate assistants who oversaw Taylor and served as the advisors for the separate hall councils.

In 1972, Taylor Hall became one of two halls to become co-educational and allow females to live on alternating floors. On September 2, 1976, the Daily Eastern News reported Taylor Hall was the second residence hall (after Thomas) to vote in favor of a 24-hour visitation policy for both the male and female floors. The implementation, however, was postponed due to a rise in the number of unescorted guests during the summer months.

Residents of Taylor were very invested in social and political issues. During the 1988 presidential race, Taylor held a last minute presidential debate for students on campus. In the early 1990s, Taylor held a discussion on the topic of homosexuality and hosted speakers and programming surrounding Black History Month.

Thomas Hall opened in 1963 as an all-male residence hall with a capacity of 488 beds. The building was comprised of two residential wings, with four floors on each side. The main level held offices, front desk operations, a community lounge, and dining facilities. The total construction cost of Thomas Hall was $2.4 million. The campus was continuing to grow, and residential living was becoming a popular trend both nationally and on EIU’s campus. This led to the funding of residence hall construction through the sale of revenue bonds. Thomas Hall was the first of four halls in the South Quad to be built with such funding.

After opening, Thomas Hall was the center of controversy based on student complaints about the physical structure. Students complained of bulletin boards coming unglued from the walls in the rooms, frequent false fire alarms from water leaking into the fire alarm system, and the portico on the front entrance having to be replaced. These issues were addressed and forgotten by the opening of the next academic year. Still, many joked that Thomas would be destroyed by its near 500 male occupants in a short amount of time.

Thomas residents enjoyed amenities including a large, color TV, spacious lounges, and a dining hall in the building. At the time, Thomas housed the most residents out of all the residence halls on campus. The unique bond between the male residents
of Thomas Hall and female residents of Andrews Hall was long-standing. Combined,
they planned sweetheart dances and collaborated to build homecoming floats. Thomas Hall has since recently become a coed building with alternating male and female floors.