Shippensburg University held a ribbon cutting ceremony, on Friday, Nov. 14, to signify the conclusion of the second phase of the residence hall housing project.

The event was held in the lobby of Kieffer Hall at 4 p.m., where more than 50 students, administrators and others involved with the housing project attended.

Several people spoke to the crowd, including Interim President Jody Harpster; B. Michael Schaul, chair of the SU Council of Trustees; and Nicholas Johnson, president of the Student Senate.

Warren Burke Jr., vice president of development for Campus Apartments; Darrell Miller, president of SU Student Services Inc.; and Roger Serr, vice president of student affairs, also spoke.

Harpster, Schaul, Miller, Burke, Serr and Johnson cut the red ribbon hanging between two columns in the Kieffer Hall lobby with large red, white and blue shears.

“I think the importance of residence halls are almost indescribable, in a sense,” Johnson said, who believes residence halls serve as an introduction to the campus community for students.

Harpster said the completion of Phase Two marks another milestone for the university, and gives students a variety of housing options from which to choose.

“I think we have a lot to be proud of,” Serr said. “Everything we did was with the students’ interests at heart.”

Phase Two of the housing project included the construction of Kieffer, Lackhove and McCune halls. Phase One of the project included the construction of Presidents, Seavers and McLean II halls.

According to Miller, the two phases of the housing project cost more than $130 million.

“We could not have asked for a better group of people to work with,” Burke said.

The next step in the ongoing project is demolishing Naugle Hall, which was last used during the 2014 spring semester. At this time, there are no plans to replace Naugle Hall with a new one in that location, according to Harpster.

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