Ashland University has undergone extensive renovations in the past few years, and the summer before the 2023-24 Academic Year is no different.

Heading into the coming semester, the U.S.A. House located in Fraternity Circle will see plenty of upgrades and renovations as the school moves away from the possibility of bringing in a fourth fraternity.

“The renovations in the USA house have taken place over the summer and were made possible by very generous gifts by several donors,” said AU’s Vice President of Operations and Planning Patrick Ewing.

These donations and gifts have allowed the university to drastically upgrade the house with a variety of improvements.

“The work on the house included updated finishes throughout the house,” said Ewing. “New LVT flooring in the sleeping rooms and new carpet in the common areas.  The sleeping rooms have been refurnished and air conditioning has been installed.”

In the summer of 2022, the university added air conditioning to Clayton, while also updating and renovating several other dorms such as Kem and Amstutz Halls.

“We also reconfigured the common restrooms into 5 individual, private restrooms,” said Ewing. “The house was painted inside and out and the concrete front steps and back patio have both been repaired/replaced.”

The last time the U.S.A House was in use to the Fraternity and Sorority Life (FSL) community was back in 2018 when Tau Kappa Epsilon (TKE) was still on campus. TKE closed after a low number of residents and members resulted in the university stripping the fraternity of its house.

Now, the newly renovated improved house will be used for military affiliated students for the foreseeable future.