Students move in to new Freshman Village at WKU

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – Students are making their way back to Western Kentucky University’s campus this week and with the influx of young adults, the school is excited to see their brand-new Freshman Village in use for the first time ever.

This school year is a little extra special following the shut down COVID caused for the school, according to WKU spokesman Jace Lux.

“The lifeblood of a college or university is it students and so when they return to campus, it really, it really helps to invigorate all of us,” said Lux.

He says having students back on the hill is a beautiful scene.

The Freshman Village also just opened its doors for the first time to students.

It has the capacity to house over 600 students and is divided into smaller learning community pods of 25.

Each pod has a living room, bathrooms and a kitchen for the group to share.

Incoming freshman moving into the village said they were nervous to say “see you later” to their parents and start their new journey but are excited to see what life of the hill will be like.

“I’m just like absolutely so excited. It’s like really nice and I just can’t wait for all of the adventures and for the building to be filled with laughter and smiles and just like all the fun and happiness,” said Madeline Castlen, an incoming WKU Freshman.

“I’m just kind of excited to get the feel of it and like see how it works with like the pod style which I’ve never heard of until here which is really interesting and I’m excited to see how it all goes,” said Jordan Schlueter, an incoming WKU Freshman.

But a transition is still difficult.

“The students that are coming into our first-year class, they experienced a senior year of high school unlike any other that’s ever been experienced by high school students before. And so we’re just really excited to be able to provide the WKU experience for them,” said Lux.

“I’ve been crying a lot. It’s going to be hard because I’m really close with my mom and my stepdad and I’ve never been this far away from them for this long so it’s definitely going to be hard and definitely going to cry a lot,” said Schlueter.

The village is made up of two buildings and are connected through an outdoor green space, giving the students an opportunity to hang out outside the buildings as well as inside.

When inside in common areas, students are required to wear masks.