Liberty’s newest high-rise residence hall opens its doors to students

With the start of Liberty University’s 2024 Welcome Week on Wednesday, thousands of incoming students have begun arriving on campus alongside their families. For students moving into the new Residential Commons IV, this event marks an even more significant occasion as they are the first to occupy the building.

Commons IV is Liberty’s fourth Residential Commons high-rise residence hall, a 10-story, 166,908-square-foot expansion of Residential Commons III. Serving as an all-male residence hall, the project features a 2-story connector to Commons III (now an all-female hall) and adds 654 beds and two new resident director apartments. Liberty broke ground on the project in spring 2023. The building is conveniently located next to the new Reber-Thomas Dining Center, Liberty’s main dining facility, which opened to students for the first time last fall. The building features two-person rooms, and students have access to a laundry facility and common area on each floor.

“Right now, I’m excited to be the first one in the room,” said sophomore Caleb Sutter, who lived on Commons III last year. “Everything is brand new, and we get to be the first ones to try everything out. It’s exciting.”

Zachary Thompson, a freshman from Raleigh, N.C., said he already loves the Liberty environment and looks forward to meeting fellow classmates.

“It’s definitely exciting (to live on Commons IV),” he said. “It’s nice knowing that everything will be new.”

Residence halls opened to new students on Wednesday, and returning students will be moving in starting on Friday and throughout the weekend. Classes begin on Monday, Aug. 19.

The university is welcoming close to 4,400 new incoming undergraduate students this fall. About 8,500 students are living in campus housing.

Liberty’s first Residential Commons was completed in 2014, providing enough beds to replace all 16 of the original Champion Circle halls built in the same location in the 1970s. Commons II was completed in 2016, and Commons III opened in 2017.

In preparation for the opening of Commons IV, Liberty purchased new mattresses manufactured by Virginia Industries for the Blind in Charlottesville (read more about Liberty’s partnership with the company and the Virginia Department for the Blind and Vision Impaired).

Another construction project is nearing completion across campus. The North Campus Parking Garage, located near the LaHaye Ice Center, is Liberty’s third parking garage. The building will hold 1,500 cars and is expected to be completed by Liberty’s first home football game on Aug. 31 against Campbell University.