The White Hall Classroom Building’s renovation has impacted students’ security, navigation and schedules as construction operations still take place on campus.
Expected to be completed in June 2026, the White Hall renovation officially started in the summer of 2024, according to the Kentucky Kernel.
White Hall holds around 50 classrooms and is the most common area of intersection among students from all majors, the Kentucky Kernel reported.
UK Vice President of Facilities Management and Chief Facilities Officer, Mary Vosevich, said she recognized the logistic downside of the current $82 million remodeling considering the building is located right in the “heart of the campus.”
“We try to do whatever we can to mitigate any inconvenience that’s happening, but these are big projects,” Vosevich said. “I think the reward is going to be good when it’s all finished, but there’s going to be some inconvenience at times.”
White Hall construction is still at the preliminary stages of preparing the building for renovation, which will include integrated active spaces for large group engagement to promote “learning outside the classrooms,” Vosevich said.
According to Vosevich, relocating classes around the university’s campus was the biggest challenge for the 2024-25 academic year, as it involved more offices than usual, including the Registrar’s office and faculty members.
Associate Dean of Students for the Residential Experience, Justin Blevins, said several UK residence halls include classroom centers as part of their original design, which has become an alternative amid the largest freshman class in UK’s history, according to the UK News website.
However, Blevins said the number of classes utilizing residence hall classrooms in the Fall 2024 semester is 171—the same in Fall 2022 and “not far from” the 168 sections in Fall 2023.
For UK core courses, such as UK 101, sessions currently meet in residence halls, such as Smith Hall, Woodland Glen V, Jewell Hall, Donovan Hall, Chellgren Hall and Roselle Residence Hall, according to the myUK registration page.
Holding classes in dorms caused safety concerns for some students, such as Natalia Barrera, a sophomore secondary social studies education major, who said it made her worried about the access of non-residents into the dorms’ common areas.
“In my dorm, I have classrooms in the basement, so every time I go to do my laundry, it’s just a bunch of people waiting outside trying to go to class,” Barrera said. “Which is strange and a little unsafe in the sense that anyone can get in from that door.”
Blevins said the access of non-resident students to their classrooms in residence halls is coordinated with UKPD to ensure only direct routes to the classroom spaces.
“They (UKPD) do not include access to stairwells, elevators, or any residential entry points beyond what is necessary to reach the classroom areas,” Blevins said. “Residential security remains a priority, and our systems are designed to maintain that separation.”
The effect of taking altered routes between classes has also caused some students, like Celia Spurlock, a sophomore integrated strategic communications major, to drop out of courses and rearrange schedules.
Spurlock said she had to drop a class in the fall of 2024 because she could not make it in time due to the long distance and “intense” traffic on campus.
“They (the university) could’ve prepared a little better,” Spurlock said. “Or they could’ve done construction on one side of the building.”
Even for students with majors that have their own facilities, many classes are now being held in buildings that lack the same capacity as White Hall, according to Lawrence Rayan, a junior majoring in mechanical engineering.
Rayan said one of the facilities he now has to have classes in is the Funkhouser building, saying he missed having his calculus classes at White Hall, despite its “70s vibe.”
Some students, like sophomore nursing major Daniela Roman, said the issue of relocating buildings involves not only “old-looking” structures, but also concerns about unsuitable classroom conditions.
“Our professor had to find a room in the education building (Dickey Hall) in the basement downstairs,” Roman said. “She told us that they (maintenance staff) had to come down there and dust everything off because it hadn’t been used in so long.”
According to Roman and Barrera, other projects such as building more parking areas on campus should be a priority over White Hall’s renovation.
Other classroom buildings were mentioned as “needing reform,” such as the Taylor Education and the Fine Arts buildings, according to Ali King, a junior double major in dance and arts administration.
“In the dance studio (Fine Arts building), the air conditioner still does not work, and it’s really hot in there all the time,” King said. ”And in the green room, there’s mold on the walls, and people sometimes get sick because of the mold, and it’s just a really old building.”
In the meantime, students such as Barrera said they now fear what else is to come after the inconvenience caused by the current remodeling.
“Mainly, I think this is horrible timing for the university, because my class was the largest, and now this new freshman (class) is the largest,” Barrera said. “If they’re gonna do this, what else are they gonna take away?”
