Toller Hall Reopens as Briar Cliff Enrollment Growth Brings New Life to Historic Residence Hall

(Sioux City, Iowa - September 1, 2026) Nearly three years after the last students moved out, Toller Hall once again welcomed Briar Cliff University students. This time, the University responded to growing demand for on-campus housing driven by rising enrollment, an echo of the very need that built the hall in the first place.

Briar Cliff reopened a floor of Toller Hall for the 2026-27 academic year as the University welcomed one of the largest incoming classes in the last decade.

"For years, institutions across the country have faced the challenge of declining enrollment," said Briar Cliff President Dr. Matthew Draud. "This year, we faced a very different one: more students want to live on campus than we can house without reopening Toller Hall. We're excited to welcome them, and to give Toller another chapter in its long history."

Originally constructed as West Hall, the residence hall was later named for Adolph J. Toller, a member of the University's Associate Board. Toller Hall has been part of the Briar Cliff campus since 1967, when the University was experiencing significant enrollment growth following its transition from a women's college to a coeducational institution. It originally housed male students and was later designated for first-year students.

For generations of alumni, Toller Hall carries a special kind of nostalgia. The building is remembered for the tight-knit community it fostered and the lifelong friendships it produced. Residents left their mark in ways both visible and hidden: signatures scrawled across the beams above one floor's ceiling, secret walls, and no shortage of stories best told in person. Floors claimed names of their own: the Honkers, the Boars, the Dead Fish, the Falcons, the Sailors, and the Medics. Identities alumni still claim decades later.

Toller Hall closed in late 2023, when the University no longer needed the residential capacity and was weighing the building against other institutional priorities. It remained unoccupied while those options were considered.

Now, the historic residence hall has begun a new chapter, one made possible by the same enrollment growth that built it nearly six decades ago. Students have moved into Toller Hall, and the University will evaluate opening additional floors as demand continues to grow.