A Look At Kirby Smith Hall

The new and improved Kirby Smith Hall is back in business.

Re-opened in August 2011, Kirby Smith Hall has become a popular residence hall and quite the social hangout. Morgan, a first-year Kirby Smith Hall resident talks about living in the hall, "I love living in Kirby Smith. I know people who lived here years ago before the renovations when I bring up living here they have all kinds interesting comments on the hall."

Kirby Smith Hall prides itself on its newly renovated state.

Kirby Smith is the largest residence hall on campus, standing at 154 feet tall and having 13 floors. Named after Confederate Gen. Edmund Kirby Smith, the hall was built in 1967. Kirby Smith Hall remained active as an all male residence hall until 2006. It was taken out of commission and reopened as a co-ed hall in the Summer of 2011.

Vintage picture of Kirby Smith Hall from 2005.

The first seven floors are used specifically for student housing while the remaining floors are used for university offices and other uses. Kirby Smith Hall may not completely resemble the hall it was five years ago, but is still held with high regard and respect by the residential community.

Fall Break leaves campus sparsely populated but full of life.

Two students who have decided not to leave campus shoot the breeze.

Student activity on campus was noticeably less busy than usual over Fall Break last week, but res halls were still bustling with students choosing to stay on campus While the Quad and Student Union were eerily quiet, the Purple Polo caught up with students who stayed on campus over the break. Here’s what you missed if you went home…

John watches ESPN on Saturday of the break, while his comrade gets some much needed rest.

John, a first-year student from Herget Hall said, "It's a good weekend to hang out, do laundry, catch up on your schoolwork, catch up on your sleep and watch some football." 

Parking lots were nearly empty on fall break.

The albino squirrel was spotted twice by the Purple Polo during fall break. Regrettably, he was unavailable for comment.

Nick, a senior living in the East Campus Apartments described his fall break experience as, “I stayed in and studied for most of the break, I went downtown on the weekend and had a great time."

Michelle, a sophomore living in Miller Hall expressed a similar story about her break, "I went to the volleyball games on Friday and Saturday, and pretty much just studied for the rest of the weekend."

Kirby Smith Hall was totally deserted with only the desk assistant on the first floor.

While the majority of students left campus and visited their friends and family, students who stayed on campus were able to have fun and rest up for the upcoming week. No matter if it’s during a break or in the middle of session semester, there are always things going on at LSU's residence halls and apartments.

Fall Fest 2011 has a little something for everyone.

A small portion of the Fall Fest crowd interacts with each other.

On September 30, the quadrangle became host to a well-received festival of live music, exciting contests, and delicious food.  According to the students who attended, Fall Fest 2011 was a great success.

Resident assistant (RA) Isaiah Owens enjoys himself at Fall Fest.

One performance in particular that was well received was the Love Purple, Live Gold Yard Show, a spectacle that involved members of Greek Life dancing and playing to the crowd. The Golden Band from Tiger Land and Baton Rouge based rap group Da Future also provided musical performances for the festival. Student attendee David Kern remarked, "Da Future were incredible, they really got the crown moving!"

The Love Purple, Live Gold Yard Show was a hit.

"I got to the Fall Fest early, that way I was able to take advantage off all the free food and drinks!" said student attendee Jennifer Smith. Hamburgers, veggie-burgers and po-boys made up the Fall Fest menu, and they were free to any student attending the festival.

Dance moves were on full display at Fall Fest.

Chad Freeman, Graduate Residence Director (GRD) of Broussard Hall, described Fall Fest as an "awesome way to spend an afternoon." Live performances, delicious food, and fun contests wowed the crowds and made this Fall Fest something to remember.

Students throw their hands in the air trying to catch t-shirts and other Fall Fest swag.

Miller Hall gets beautiful!

Miller Hall's "Pretty Up Miller" beautification was a total success.

Miller Hall took a creative approach to its "Pretty Up Miller" beautification by having its residents add a personal touch to the look of their residence hall. Miller RAs Hayley Solomon, Kim Allen and Kelsey Bradberry put together an event that involved beautifying their hall using materials that were common and inexpensive. Miller Hall was made to look floral and festive using pipe cleaners and newspaper. Residents put their creative skills to work and created a botanical wonderland of paper flowers.

Flowers were displayed with pride by Miller Hall's enthusiastic residents.

In addition to contributing to the botanical garden of newspaper foliage, dirt cake was served. Dirt cake is a tasty dessert made with crushed cookies, chocolate pudding, milk and butter. Served out of a clay pot with a garden trowel, the dirt cake was met with fanfare and applause.

Miller Hall RA Kelsey Bradberry displays the remains of her dirt cake.

Residents also had the opportunity to paint clay pots which will remain outside Miller Hall until spring 2012.

Miller Hall residents add personal touches to their pots.

Miller Hall Residence Life Coordinator Colby Kinder works hard on her flowers.

When asked about the reasoning behind "Pretty Up Miller", Miller Hall Residence Life Coordinator Colby Kinder explained, "Our residents are highly involved in various aspects of campus so we work very hard in finding ways to make their days a little brighter and create educational opportunities that are fun for everyone involved. It also always helps to have some yummy dirt cake! The event was a success."

An attempt at making a flower from the Purple Polo's correspondent.