Hooah Hut discovered
Liberty students share story about building the tree house behind East Campus
In only two months’ time, five friends on East Campus constructed a two-story tree house in the woods behind their dorm, East 53. They were beginning construction on a third story when the Liberty University Police Department (LUPD) deemed the structure unsafe and requested the students no longer went up to the tree house until it could be deemed safe and secure.
Brian Cross, Chase Giess, Jakob Knisley, Robbie Moretz and Aaron O’Donnell decided on a whim that a tree house would be a great project for them to take on, according to Moretz. Giess, Knisley, Moretz and O’Donnell are all ROTC members in their junior year.
Each of the builders described the tree house, which they call the Hooah Hut, as a place where they can relax and share stories together.
“‘Hooah’ is an army term,” Moretz said. “It’s a motivational thing.”
The Hooah Hut is constructed completely from wood from a local hardware store, pieces of wood they chopped down, or scraps from construction sites around campus, according to Moretz. Except for a few pieces that required a drill, these five students used a hammer and nails to hold the entire tree house together.
“We went to Lowe’s, got some 2-by-4s and just started building,” Moretz said. “No blueprints or anything. We just started nailing stuff.”
After beginning construction Jan. 30, 2015, each of them would find time two or three days out of the week to work for a couple of hours. Though they were not always able to work together at the same time, each of them committed to put in an equal amount of effort. Construction was completed March 30, 2015.
“After class there would always be one or two people up there working, and it would cycle back when people had free time,” O’Donnell said.
Construction — The Hooah Hut is located in the woods behind East Campus. Photo credit: Leah Seavers
When they would spend time in the Hooah Hut together, after construction was completed, they would typically swap stories of some of their best and funniest memories together. Moretz recounted his funny memory during construction — when he was hammering in a log and accidently slipped. He landed on his ribs and rolled all the way down the hill, and once he sat up, everyone else was staring at him and waiting to see how he would respond. Everyone started laughing.
One evening an LUPD officer approached the Hooah Hut while they were inside after noticing an unusual light from inside the forest. If they were ever in the Hooah Hut at night, they would light a few tiki torches on the porch on the second level. That evening, multiple LUPD officers showed up to see what was going on behind East Campus.
“(The school wants) to make a student body project,” Moretz said. “I’m not really sure what that means, but that’s the last thing I heard.”
Since the discussion with LUPD, caution tape was put around the Hooah Hut until it could be determined if the structure was stable. Moretz claims they have significantly less time to go up there anyway this year due to the rigor of the ROTC program.
“We weren’t really up there at all last semester,” Moretz said. “It was mainly last year when we went up there and enjoyed it.”
Since the verdict on the Hooah Hut is still up in the air, according to Moretz, they have considered taking on a few other projects. Even with the busy schedules they keep, some thought has gone in to building a canoe or even a wigwam, but they said they may wait until next year when their schedules free up.
Pierce is a news reporter.