Winona State University

Winona State University

Winona State University is a comprehensive public university in Winona, Minnesota, United States, a college and river town located in picturesque bluff country on the Mississippi River, with around 8,900 enrolled undergraduate and graduate students...

uses sixteen buildings as on-campus living communities. Nine buildings are on the main campus of Winona State, three are on West Campus, and four are built east of campus.

Prentiss-Lucas Hall

Prentiss-Lucas Hall (commonly referred to as P-L) as it's called at Winona State

Winona State University

Winona State University is a comprehensive public university in Winona, Minnesota, United States, a college and river town located in picturesque bluff country on the Mississippi River, with around 8,900 enrolled undergraduate and graduate students...

, is the largest freshman residence hall. It is heavily built-up, though acquisitions of new housing in recent years has relieved some of the pressure on P-L. The two halls are mirror-image duplicates of each other (Prentiss is the men's residence hall and Lucas is the women's), linked by a common lobby and lounge area. After 11 PM, women need an escort to be within Prentiss and men likewise within Lucas. The lobby area is open to both sexes twenty-four hours a day.

The Quad

The Quad has four dormitories that form a square: Conway Hall, Richards Hall, Morey and Shepard Halls. The Quad contains multiple lounges, typically located where the four residence halls intersect each other. It houses over 500 students. Conway is WSU's honors residence hall and is entirely women. Morey and Shepard Halls are connected in an "L" shape. Like Prentiss-Lucas, Morey-Shepard consists of a men's (Morey) and women's (Shepard) residence hall. Richards Hall is a four-story residence hall. Richards is also co-ed, however, mostly split by floor. The first is both male and female, the second floor being men, and the third and fourth being women.

Sheehan Hall

Sheehan Hall is a thirteen-story women's residence hall. The second through thirteenth of the floors are residential and the first floor is a lobby and social area;

Residential College

The Residential College, also called West Campus, is situated on the former campus of the College of Saint Teresa

College of Saint Teresa

The College of Saint Teresa was a Catholic women's college in Winona, Minnesota. Previously a seminary, it became a college in 1907 and was operated by the Sisters of Saint Francis of Rochester, Minnesota until its closing in 1989.-History:...

 (CST), a defunct Roman Catholic women's college

Women's college

Women's colleges in higher education are undergraduate, bachelor's degree-granting institutions, often liberal arts colleges, whose student populations are composed exclusively or almost exclusively of women...

. Winona State has purchased Lourdes Hall, the Tau Center, and Maria Hall. The west campus is divided into seven different "houses", to create a sense of community and competition between different members of the dormitories.

Lourdes Hall

Lourdes Hall was acquired by Winona State in the early 1990s. It has a cafeteria, which serves for all three halls on the West Campus. The dining facilities include chandeliers, high ceilings, a multitude of seating options. This proves useful for the yearly 'Madrigal' Festival as well as the Residence Housing Association's Spring Formal. Lourdes is a co-educational hall divided by wings. Most of the residence hall rooms in Lourdes are single occupancy and formed in alcoves off the main hallway. This is to create a greater sense of community. The first floor is all-men's, the second and fourth are all women's; third floor is co-educational. Lourdes is supposedly haunted, and ghost sightings have been reported in the hall, especially on its third and fourth floors. There is speculation that it has to do with a convent that had previously been located on the premises. There is on-site security after 11 PM and guests must check in after that time. Lourdes also boasts a heated swimming pool and a Nautilus fitness center.
Lourdes Hall also hosts Mugshots. Mugshots is a way for students to sign up and perform in front of their peers. It is an opportunity in which up-coming musicians, comedy acts, and other forms of clean, fun, free entertainment can be found once a week.

Tau Center

Tau Center was acquired in 2003 and serves as a co-educational residence hall/conference center. It is located on Winona State's West Campus, behind Lourdes, and is governed in conjunction with Maria Hall. Tau was previously operated by the Diocese of Winona

Roman Catholic Diocese of Winona

The Diocese of Winona is the Roman Catholic diocese which ministers to the people of southern Minnesota. The diocese includes Blue Earth, Cottonwood, Dodge, Faribault, Fillmore, Freeborn, Houston, Jackson, Martin, Mower, Murray, Nobles, Olmsted, Pipestone, Rock, Steele, Wabasha, Waseca, Watonowan,...

. Residents consist mainly of freshman, and the vast majority of rooms are for single occupants. 3 Resident Assistants are on staff to manage 3 floors of dorms.

East Lake Apartments

East Lake was built in 2002-2003 and opened in 2004, and serves as an apartment complex for both men and women.

New Hall/Center

There are two new residence halls, which are currently named New Hall East, and New Hall West. They are located on WSU's main campus. They are across Mark Street, so they are set just slighly apart from the main campus. The buildings were open for housing the Fall semester 2011. The buildings were built where there once was a parking lot, and the rear of the building faces the train tracks that run through Winona.
The two residence halls are mirror images of one another. They are both contain large common rooms, community kitchens, and access to wireless internet. The rooms are set up as apartments with either 2 or 4 people in each one.