High-pitched giggling and deep, hearty laughs can be heard down the hall. A mixture of sweat and luscious cotton-candy perfume circulates throughout the air. Boys and girls sit; munching on buttered popcorn and with the lights dim, a scary movie reflects off screen.

Welcome to a co-ed dorm.

The Director of Residence Life, Kim Lammers, confirmed that both Kem Hall and Kilhefner Hall would become co-ed dorms in the fall of 2016. Kilhefner Hall will consist of any former double rooms then transitioned into paid single rooms, which will ultimately allow one to have more space and more privacy. This also means that individuals do not have to share their facilities with as large of a community as they had previously.

“This was a step one, something that we could do with relatively low cost,” said Lammers. “We are putting in quite a bit of money, but this is something that we can do pretty easily to hopefully satisfy students’ needs. [Our] hope is to continue doing renovations, and to continue what we did with the Meyer’s bathrooms and the Amstutz floors.”

Lammers explained how students have been doing everything in their power to make their voices heard, by expressing their opinions regarding their living situations, and how they really desire to see something new and exciting happen to shake things up.

“So far, we have been looking at social media and emails [sent] to us, and we have seen for the most part, [that] students are surprised in this dramatic of a change,” Lammers said.

Freshman nursing major, Lexi Fraelich, discussed how she enjoys living in Kem Hall currently, as an all-girls dorm. Although, she anticipates what good or bad the change will bring.

“I think it could be a good thing; but at the same time, I enjoy it being an all-girls [dorm] because if someone truly wanted to live with males and females, there is always Amstutz or Clayton, Fraelich said. “I like the option of being able to be separated from all boys every now and [then]. I am sure they feel the same way about us.”

Sophomore nursing major, Natalie Arcoria, acknowledged the ways that students potentially could be affected by Kem Hall transitioning into a co-ed dorm in the near future.

“Positively, freshman will be able to make more friends; [both] guys and girls. Negatively, this [change] could be a distraction with schoolwork,” Arcoria said.

Lammers described how Kilhefner Hall will not only become a co-ed dorm, but how Kem Hall turned out to be the perfect location to host males.

“We [will make] the building co-ed; that means that [for] the space that used to be there for first-year males, we [will] need to find a new space for them,” Lammers said. “We chose Kem Hall, because it is the ‘sister building’ for Amstutz Hall. [Both] are set up the exact same way with the exact same floor plan.”

Freshman athletic training major DeVaunté Turner, said that with the transition in Kilhefner Hall, individuals would be able to branch out more and interact with one other in an entirely new way.

“There will be more [of an] opportunity to meet people,” Turner said. “Sometimes, you see [others] here and there, but everybody has their own cliques.”

Lammers noted how she believes that AU students will find the transition rather accommodating and how a majority of individuals have anxiously awaited a change like this one for quite some time.

“In the last year, we have had a lot of students who chose to do paid singles,” Lammers said. “We do know that this is something that our students are willing to pay for and it is something that they do want. Hopefully, this will be a nice perk for them.”

The Scion Group is a company based out of Chicago that came to AU last year to conduct surveys and focus groups, in which had allowed students to definitively express their views on their current living situation and what changes they would prefer to see happen, or not at all.

The unanimous decision to make this transition for the university was through the Scion Committee, which consists of the following individuals: the Vice President for Student Affairs, Hannah Clayborne, Lammers herself, the Vice President of Facilities Management and Planning, Rick Ewing, the Executive Vice President, Scott Van Loo, the Vice President of Business, Stephen Storck, and the Director of Admissions, W.C. Vance.

Even though a vast majority of students are feeling excited about this transition, there are some who have reservations and are comfortable with the way things are now and would prefer them not to change.

Freshman forensic biology major, Cait Davis, noted that she does not think that the transition will help build a stronger sense of community throughout Kem Hall; instead, she believes it will hinder it.

“I do not really like it,” Davis said. “I feel like my space would be invaded by boys. I know it is a different floor, but I feel really weird about it. We have a really good community on our floor; it is really great. I feel like it might get broken up once boys [arrive].”

Additionally, with Kilhefner Hall becoming a co-ed dorm, it will have a brand new paint job, new furniture, new carpeting and 24-hour visitation hours. Individuals living in this dorm will still be expected to follow the policies under the 24-hour visitation guidelines, as similar to the other dorms on campus. Students can look forward to these changes coming to the university very soon in the near future.