How a residence hall transformed a college

It’s hard to imagine in 2023, but for more than two decades after first being established in 1968, Laramie County Community College did not have residence halls. Many students then, as today, were from Cheyenne and lived at established homes throughout the community. But it wasn’t so easy for those who wanted to attend LCCC coming from outside of Cheyenne.

Things changed with the construction of the college’s first residence hall. Located on the southwest side of LCCC’s Cheyenne campus, Foundation Hall today is connected to Blue Hall on its east side and is adjacent to Gold Hall to its west. When it was completed in 1989, Foundation Hall, then unnamed, transformed LCCC into an institution with a residential living option that allowed students who otherwise could not attend to create a community on campus. 

“One of the things that’s really a positive is how (the residence hall) has drawn people that probably wouldn’t have even gone to school at LCCC because it provided lodging,” says former LCCC Foundation board president Jeff Collins. “If you were right out of high school and you didn’t have a car, everything you need is right there.” 

With a residential component to campus, the college was able to support expansions of athletic programs and establish amenities such as the dining hall. And having a residence hall allowed LCCC to give students experiences equally important to their time in college as their academics. 

Billie Addleman, current LCCC Foundation president, points to the examples of his own family members that came to LCCC from Niobrara County.

“Our nieces and nephews are exposed to students from all over Wyoming, the country and international students, and that’s really a college environment,” he says. “My nephew’s suitemate was from Venezuela. My niece’s best friends were from Italy and Brazil. That doesn’t happen without residence halls.” 

In Fall 2022, the residence halls were home to more than students from all over the world living and learning on campus. 

A dedication ceremony christening LCCC’s first residence hall as Foundation Hall took place Sept. 29, 2022. Originally owned by the LCCC Foundation, an organization separate from the college itself, ownership of the building was transferred to the college years later. In 2019, the LCCC Foundation board of directors committed a gift to the college in order to officially name the building Foundation Hall. 

In making a gift to LCCC for the naming rights, the LCCC Foundation maintains its unique connection to the special building.

“Not only does it honor those that raised the money and gave the money generously, but it honors those original Foundation board members that had the courage and foresight to make Foundation Hall a reality,” Billie says. “The board was able to take on the commitment and ownership of that first project, which really started everything as far as creating a college campus we can be proud of.”