Students at Taylor have expressed frustration with the Taylor housing process over the past few years. Many share concerns about meeting increasing demands for space.
Taylor residence life faculty saw this need. They’re meeting this demand, said Skip Trudeau, vice president for student development.
This year Taylor is opening two additional housing apartments on campus for students. They also added two off-campus housing options,Trudeau said.
One off-campus apartment Taylor acquired in Spring 2025 is The Flats, formerly known as Casa Patricia. This housing unit stands near the campus bookstore, north of campus. The second campus-adjacent,off-site housing unit is Haven, a complex of apartments a few blocks from the north side of Taylor’s campus.
Quality housing is a priority to Taylor because of its symbiotic relationship with Taylor’s community, Trudeau said. He referenced Taylor’s high retention rates as indicative of their thriving dorm life.
“We believe that there's a great synergy between the residence hall experience, the in-class experience and other out-of-class experiences,” he said. “Those three things kind of come together to make the overall student experience what it is.”
Trudeau expressed gratitude for his hard-working team, who poured prayer and thought into the housing process to help students thrive.
He appreciated the fact that no matter what dorm students end up assigned to, they will experience the same Taylor community.
Julia Hurlow, dean of campus life, hoped these experiences would culminate in students prospering. She wants them to experience a sense of home while away from their real homes.
Taylor Finnegan, on-campus apartments hall director, agreed. He wanted a place where students could hang their hat, experience support and feel free to serve the Lord, he said. He foresees the continually improving housing situation will help students succeed in these areas, he said.
Finnegan creates a team who provides support for students living in apartments. His team prioritizes creative, comfortable, quality housing with access to campus resources.
Quality housing allows students to focus on academics and relationships, he said.
“If we have housing that is meeting the needs of our students well, then our students are able to focus on the things that Christ is putting in front of them,” Finnegan said.
He empathized with students frustrated by past housing situations.
However, Finnegan reassured students that Taylor will always present opportunities for community-building that will continue to improve each year.
“We do have a place for you,” he said. “There is an opportunity for you to build community. There's an opportunity for you to have your own space that you can just be at peace.”
He encouraged students to step into a growth mindset: remembering that frustrations are opportunities for growth and looking forward to the future as Taylor’s housing experience improves.
“I'm very confident that next year is going to look even better than this year,” he said. “We're going to be looking at a completely different animal next year.”
