It’s finally here! The newest and most desirable residence hall on Stony Brook University’s campus is finished and ready for students! Toll drive opened its doors to its residents last Saturday, after a two-week delay from its original opening date. “Beautiful,” “Unique,” “Modern” and “Picturesque” are some of the words students have been using to describe the campus’s newest addition. Chavéz Hall, the building that just opened, houses about 302 students. Many students who have not been in there are curious about what lies beyond the beautiful walls of Toll Drive. “I’ve only seen it from the outside,” Said junior Aracely Jimenez, “it looks beautiful, and I’ve seen pictures on Facebook of like the rooftop green garden.” That’s right. The new building features a rooftop garden for residents to enjoy. How cool is that? “The green roof is just made for relaxing. There’s a seating area out there. It’s open from 8am to 5pm” said Kianna Thomas, Residence Hall Director of Chavéz Hall, “I think the green roof is early interesting because there is no other building on campus residence hall wise that has something like a green roof.” Many students like Hamza Hussaini compare this building to the Nobel Halls, the 2nd newest buildings on campus. “I think it’s nice. It reminds me of Yang and Lauterbur. The inside is very similar to those I think. The bathroom and the sinks are on the outside, and it’s spacious” “I kind of expect it to be modern. Probably closer to the design of say Yang or Lauterbur” said Junior Aracely Jimenez. So what does the building offer? The building features new, modern quiet-study lounges on every floor, smart lounges, along with a laundry room and laundry-lounge room on every floor. All the rooms and hallways are air conditioned with central air, and the suites feature separate bathrooms for the shower and toilet. On top of that, most of the windows are full length. “The windows are from floor to top so it looks like I’m in a high rise in Manhattan!” said Debduth Pijsuh, an AMS major living in Toll. The building also has a modern kitchen, but if residents don’t feel like cooking, they can head downstairs to East Side Dining, the yet to be opened anticipated dining hall attached to the building. “I’m eager to see what East Side Dining looks like” said Jimenez, along with many other curious students. Based on its appearance, some students anticipate it to be similar to West Side Dining. Other students, like First Year Tyreek McIntosh, predict something different, “I expect some new type of dining.” East Side Dining is not yet finished, but there’s a rumor that it should be opened next week. Toll residents are looking forward to the convenience of the new dining hall. “The dining hall is right downstairs, so I look forward to going in my pajamas going down there to get some breakfast.” said Toll resident Alexandra Byrne. Tubman Hall, the 2nd building within Toll is set to open in Spring 2017. In total, the two buildings will house 759 students, which is a great improvement to the University’s housing capacity dilemmas. Now, there will be less students on the housing waiting-list, and more students on campus.
To live in Chavéz and Tubman, there are requirements the students must meet. The resident must have Junior standing or more, at least a 3.0 GPA, and a good judicial standing- similar to West Apartments.
Toll Drive offers charming new amenities to its residents, continuing to change the res-life culture of Stony Brook University.