When Geoffroy Hall opened in January of 2017 there were 125 residents living in it during its inaugural semester. The building holds 784 residents at full capacity.

This small initial batch of residents was beneficial to Geoffroy’s hall coordinators Kody Henke and Susan Presto.

“We had a very small student population living here which actually was to our benefit because it allowed us to figure out some of the kinks with the building,” Henke said.

Over a year has passed since Geoffroy first opened. The past year proved to challenge the hall coordinators with new experiences. 

Geoffroy is unique because it has two hall directors. Susan Presto is the hall director for the east side of the building, and Kody Henke is the hall director for the west side.

Previously, Presto was previously the hall director of Willow Residence Hall for four years. Henke was previously the hall director of Wallace Residence Hall.

The 2017 spring semester was, in a sense, a trial run for the dorm so all of the problems with a new building could be resolved before the next group of students moved in fall of 2018.

It was a new experience for Henke and Presto to direct a hall that was brand new.

“Susan and I, [the] majority last year, and still continue to do things that we had never done before,” Henke said. “The types of conversations we were a part of, the types of people we were having meetings with, working with vendors, purchasing, individuals and contractors, and electricians, and those types of things that we would never have had the experience to do.”

Henke describes the past year of Geoffroy as a learning experience that ultimately has set up the dorm for future years, by resolving the little problems that come with a new dorm.

When the construction of the dorm was completed there were a few items overlooked in the building process. For example there weren’t peep holes in all of the doors and some of the rooms were missing towel bars.

When comparing the new Geoffroy Hall to the other dorms, Henke said “Obviously being a new construction there is definitely the unexpected.”

“For example, it took a while for cable to get established here, so we were without cable when we first opened,” Henke said. “But it was quickly resolved.”

Presto said they were able to work with the contractors after they opened. Over the year after the hall opened, they were able to follow up with the contractor to fix any of these issues. Many of the issues were brought forward with the encouraged student input.

Throughout the year both Henke and Presto have remained focused on the students.

“Ultimately it comes down to the students, and we want them to enjoy their experience here,” Henke said. “We want them to have said this was a memorable environment for them.” 

There are some misconceptions about Geoffroy, one of the biggest is that it has suite-style rooms. All rooms are doubles and identical in size.

Another misconception Presto mentioned was that she has encountered people who believe Geoffroy is the most expensive hall on campus. Martin and Eaton, which have suite-style rooms, are more expensive.

Geoffroy is more expensive than Buchanan, but that is because the building is brand new and offers more amenities than other residence halls.  

While Geoffroy might not have been 100 percent ready once construction completed, Susan Presto and Kody Henke have worked hard to smooth out the rough edges and make it the dorm it is now.  

“We couldn’t always control what happened, but we can control our attitude towards it,” Henke said.

The hall directors faced some challenges with the new dorm, but they persevered for the residents and helped shape the dorm into a part of Iowa State.

There are a few features of Geoffroy that are unique to it as a dorm. Geoffroy is one of the most secure dorms on campus. The front doors of the building are locked 24-hours a day while the rear delivery doors are only open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. In order to access the stairwells or elevator, you need to have your ISU ID programed to give you access to those area.

Another unique feature of Geoffroy is all of the bathrooms are gender inclusive. Meaning there are no urinals in the entire building. This was designed so all of the halls could encompass any gender.