Look Back: A Storied Residence Hall

The first weeks of the beginning of a Baylor student’s journey on campus are a veritable cavalcade of new experiences, people, ideas, responsibilities and places. Some elements of this transition won’t have an effect on that student past the second or third week of classes, but parts of it will stick with them for the rest of their lives. It might be that they find a new church home that turns into their eventual wedding venue. They could attend the first few weeks of an elective that they love so much they change their major, leading them to their new vocation. It could be their unplanned potluck roommate turns out to be a lifelong best friend. Of course, these journeys have to start somewhere — a place to call home, even if only for a year or two. That’s where the storied tradition of the many Baylor Residence Halls comes in.

In Fall 1955, the need for a new women’s residence hall was recognized by the Board of Regents and then-President William R. White, so plans were set in motion to develop one. It was to be erected on the edge of campus off Eighth Street between what were then Connor and Baylor Avenues. Named in honor of Ruth Woodall Collins, wife of benefactor and Trustee Carr P. Collins, the Collins Residence Hall opened in 1957. Standing at six stories tall, a block long, and occupying 132,000 square feet, it stood as one of the largest structures in Waco. For more than 65 years Collins Hall has served as countless students’ first home away from home as they set out on their Baylor journeys. Housing more than 450 first-year female residents year after year across all majors and areas of study, Collins Hall is a Baylor institution like few others. Friendships, memories, legends and stories beyond counting from all the previous tenants live alongside each new generation as they layer on their own.

For the incoming class of 2027 (or any alumni returning to campus for a visit), Collins will look a little different this year. That’s because the residence hall is presently finishing its first major renovation since opening its doors in 1957. At Move-In, the incoming fall class will be welcomed to a new main entrance from 7th Street, renovated rooms, a faculty-in-residence suite and a grand lobby in which students can gather.

So much happens during those first few weeks on campus that some changes go unnoticed. Without really thinking about it, students go from being who they were in high school from wherever home is, to Baylor freshman biology major who lives on the second floor of Collins Residence Hall. Their classification will advance, their course of study takes shape, but the first Residence Hall that a student calls home quietly but surely becomes a part of their Baylor story that sticks with them for years to come, and there are few on campus as storied as Collins Hall.