The Coolest College Dorm in the Country Is Right on the Football Field

Big Rapids — When you were in college and looked out your dorm room window, what did you see? A parking lot? The side of another dorm building maybe?

Well, when a few hundred students at Ferris State University look out theirs, they get to see the best Division II football team in the country.

A brand-new residence hall opened at Ferris this year, and I’m confident it’s cooler than any dorm you’ve ever seen. Not because it’s exceptionally luxurious or extravagant (though it is both of those things), but because it’s built directly into the school’s football stadium.

Yep, the four-story building, appropriately named Stadium Hall, sits just beyond the north end zone of Top Taggart Field, giving students the opportunity to watch every home game from the comfort of their bedroom window.

Freshman Ebony Williams, who moved into Stadium Hall in August, said she and her roommates love being in such close proximity to the field.

“We don’t have to really go to the football games if we don’t want to. We can just watch from our room,” Williams said. “We like watching football practice out the window too.”

As an MSU alum, I have to admit that having a front-row view of our current football season from my bedroom would probably just be depressing. But, luckily for these students, they have a pretty damn good team to watch.

If you didn’t know, Ferris is incredible at football right now. The Bulldogs are currently undefeated, ranked No. 1, and have won the national championship four out of the past five years. So you can imagine how epic it would be as a freshman in college to witness all of that success right from your bedroom.

Beyond getting the best seats in the house for every home game, these students also get to live in the newest and nicest building on campus. The rooms are suite style, so each unit has two bedrooms with two students in each, along with a shared bathroom and living space. They look more like apartments than traditional dorm rooms.

Along with the rooms themselves, the whole building is pretty impressive. If students don’t want to watch the field from their rooms, there are lounges on every floor with massive windows where they can watch together. The first-floor lounge is especially extravagant, with foosball, ping pong, a huge kitchen, and windows opening up practically the entire wall to the field. They basically have a boujee football suite built directly into their home.

As you might expect, those lounges are a very popular spot on game days. Williams said friends and family frequently visit to watch, and students come over from other dorms, so the best places to sit fill up quickly.

“It’s packed,” Williams said. “You’ll see a bunch of people from North Hall get let in to come and stay with their friends here… you gotta really fight for the couches before it gets taken.”

Like most newly built dormitories, Stadium Hall also has numerous study areas and an extensive late-night snack and meal selection. But one of its more unique features, which I’m sure you won’t find just anywhere, is an entire section of the building set aside for visitors rather than students.

These rooms have a hotel-style layout rather than the traditional dorm setup and are designed for visiting speakers and other university guests. Each has a different theme tied to Ferris history, whether it’s sports, the marching band, or academics, with corresponding memorabilia and artifacts on display. And, of course, every room has a crystal-clear view of the football field.

David Murray, Ferris State’s associate vice president for marketing and communications, said the university plans to make more use of the stadium throughout the year, giving students plenty to enjoy beyond football.

“The marching band is out there. Our plans are to use the stadium for so many things, and the students here get to participate and watch it and be a part of it all,” Murray said.

The $38 million building officially opened with a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Aug. 21 and has room for 288 students. Along with North Hall, it’s one of two residence halls at Ferris reserved solely for incoming freshmen. Ferris Director of Housing and Residence Life Lisa Ortiz said the idea was to help new students get involved in campus life and build a community from the start.

It’s also a misconception that Stadium Hall is reserved for athletes. While many of the football players and other student-athletes live here, it’s open to all incoming freshmen, giving students the same opportunity to be part of that community whether they play a sport or not.

Freshman Aaron Stevens said the social atmosphere has already helped him get to know his neighbors, especially on the third and fourth floors, which have become popular hangout spots.

“The community here is really nice. I got to know a lot of people in the short time we’ve been here already,” he said.

Stadium Hall is the only dorm in Michigan attached directly to a school’s football stadium. Cornerstone University, a small private university in Grand Rapids, has a similar setup with a dorm attached to its baseball stadium that houses about 90 students.

That baseball dorm actually helped inspire this project. Ferris President Bill Pink saw it years ago and envisioned something similar at Ferris.

Murray said Pink wanted to do something special as the university began upgrading its residence halls, bringing together two things the school already does well.

“He thought, ‘We have a championship football team, national championship football team. We have an unmatched student experience here. How can we combine that together for one very special facility?’” Murray said.

Pink announced the plans in August 2024, and construction began in March 2025. What made the project especially meaningful, though, was the involvement of Ferris alumni. Every part of the planning, construction and design was handled entirely by former Bulldogs.

“The people who designed this building, from the designer, the architect, to the people in charge of construction, they’re Ferris State alumni,” Murray said. “It’s a building built by Ferris people, for Ferris students.”

Their work has given the campus a gathering place that extends beyond the students living inside. Murray said fans and tour groups stop for pictures with the giant bulldog outside, while game days bring tailgaters right up to the building.

“When you’re on the field, you look up, and you see students in the windows,” Murray said. “And they’re watching, they’re waving, and they’re enjoying it, and they’re having a good time.”

Even the building joins in on the fun. Murray explained that during night games, giant flame-shaped LED lights facing the field illuminate after touchdowns, making Stadium Hall part of the celebration.

“So, the building itself is a participant in the game and festivities, and students are in the middle of that,” he said.

Above all else, Stadium Hall has been a wonderful addition to the Ferris community, giving students and fans another place to come together and enjoy their school.

I just hope these kids realize how lucky they are. Unlike my college experience, theirs comes with a brand-new building, a winning football team, and a spacious dorm room to watch it all from. I’d say that’s a pretty good way to kick off the next f years.