LWC Dedicates College’s Largest Residence Hall

COLUMBIA, Ky. -- The Lindsey Wilson College community dedicated the most recent addition to the college's A.P. White Campus on Friday morning as the ribbon was cut on Harold J. Smith Hall.

The four-story, 186-bed building the college's largest residence hall. The 44,000-square-foot building cost about $7 million. It was opened at the start of the 2010-11 school year -- and just in time. LWC has a record residential enrollment of 1,052 this year. That's an increase of 356 students -- or 51.1 percent -- since the 2007-08 school year.

"The fact that the building came in under time and under budget speaks volumes about the beauty about this new facility and the amazing coordination and commitment to pull things off," LWC President William T. Luckey Jr. said.

Vice President for Student Services & Enrollment Management Dean Adams said Smith Hall already plays an integral role in the college's undergraduate residential experience.

"With the (Lindsey Wilson) mission as its foundation, this building was designed to integrate living and learning where every student, every day, can learn and grow and feel like a real human being," Adams said. "In this building, lives will be changed, friendships will be formed, thoughts will blossom and beliefs will grow into conviction."

But as Luckey pointed out, the real story about Smith Hall is the person after whom it was named. The late Harold J. Smith of Crestwood, Ky., was a 13-year member of Lindsey Wilson Board of Trustees. He died in 2007.

Smith, who helped numerous LWC students through his support of the Lindsey Wilson Fund and the college's endowment, missed but one meeting during his time on the college's board.

"Of the remarkable things about this building, the most amazing to me is the name on the building and the man this facility honors," Luckey said. "In my 50 years on this planet, I have never known anyone more faithful, more devoted, more godly than Harold Smith."

Luckey recalled that even when Smith was on his deathbed in 2007, he continued to seek ways to support the college, asking, "What else can I do for you to help you and make a difference for this place I love."

"Even with death imminent, he was calling to encourage me and was still searching for ways to make a difference," Luckey said. "He spoke with great excitement and enthusiasm for the future of the college. He knew what we were planning and he was excited about it."

S. Oden Howell of Louisville, Ky. -- one of two people who replaced Smith on the LWC board -- said that Smith led a life dedicated to "reaching out and helping others whenever help was needed."

"If I had but one wish, it would be that all of us would walk in the footsteps of Harold Smith," Howell said. "What a wonderful world this would be."

Smith's daughter Prudy Newton of Louisville said that she and her sister, Cindy Noe of Louisville, fell in love with Lindsey Wilson through their father's work.

"We shared so much with dad and through dad about this college -- his great, great love for it," she said. "His last few days were dedicated to what could be left for Lindsey, what could be left to Lindsey. And we think he did a real good job."

(Click here to see pictures from the ceremony.)

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