PHC has a new dorm! What do the girls think?

“My jaw dropped to the floor upon entering,” sophomore Emily Coit said. She and her wingmates were the first through the door for Shiloh’s March 15 open house. “It felt like I was walking into a luxury apartment!”

Women moved into Shiloh–PHC’s newest dorm–at the beginning of April. They initially planned to move in during January, but lingering construction and inspections kept pushing back the date and yet, with the Lord's help, the entire project was completed under budget. Most students saw inside for the first time during the open house. “I was so surprised walking in the dorm because it was completely different than all the other dorms,” junior Andrea LaBelle said. “It looked too fancy to be a home for students to live in.”

Workers broke ground for Shiloh in September 2022 and started building in April 2023. Since this was a new dorm template, the contractors had to build everything right the first time to match future dorms. Although they encountered delays, project engineers, Executive Vice President Howard Schmidt, and Nick Haye found that many local contractors and companies charged less or made room in their packed schedules after hearing about the mission of PHC.  

Shiloh, named after a place of worship in the Old Testament, includes over 80 updates based on feedback from students who lived in the older dorms. This includes desks and closets for each resident, LVP flooring, new furniture, and communal bathrooms. Students have taken time to adjust to the bathrooms, but many of them like it. “Last semester, we had a designated shower speaker that one of the girls donated to the bathroom, and whoever was first in the bathroom got to pick the music, which was so fun,” senior Grace King said. 

King also appreciates the big sinks in the laundry rooms. “It is such a pain to wash dishes in a shallow bathroom sink, but these sinks are meant for dishes, and you can tell,” she said. The disadvantage of not having a room sink is that she can’t dump out her mugs as easily. “This often means that I will leave it till later and then suddenly I have 5 cups with random water or tea or leftover soup that need to be dumped.” 

Students moved in over Easter break using boxes and moving racks the administration provided. Since it was close to the end of the semester, most people did not unpack everything. “I had lived in Montpelier the entire time at PHC, so it was super weird to move to a different building,” King said. “It is a super nice building that feels like a hotel or a resort where you spend a week but then go back to your home.”

LaBelle likes not having a study cubicle anymore. “I was in the back of the cube where there wasn’t any light from the window, and that was tough for me,” she said. “Moving into the new dorm, I love working at the desk. And even if I didn’t work at the desk, there are some neat comfy couches.” The only fault she encountered was blowing the breaker for her room when plugging in a vacuum and not knowing who to contact. 

“I love the lounge spaces, especially the upstairs lounge (birds nest) and the conference room,” Coit said. Shiloh features couches and soft chairs downstairs and upstairs, as well as a study lounge with a conference table and whiteboard. Dean Sandra Corbitt and Schmidt’s wife Cathy selected fabrics, furniture, flooring, and more. 

“I love the dark blue and green color scheme that Mrs. Schmidt picked out,” King said. “The building is still very bright with all the white, but the white makes it feel very clean and professional.” 

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 Patrick Henry College exists to glorify God by challenging the status quo in higher education, lifting high both faith and reason within a rigorous academic environment; thereby preserving for posterity the ideals behind the "noble experiment in ordered liberty" that is the foundation of America.