Ribbon Cutting Heralds New Bluford Residence Hall

EAST GREENSBORO, N.C. (July 16, 2026) – Throngs of Aggies joined North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University leaders to officially unveil Bluford Residence Hall, the university’s 16th on-campus residence hall, with a ribbon cutting Thursday.

Bluford Residence Hall’s four floors, each with its own full kitchen, has 405 student beds in 66 two- and four-bedroom suites for a total of 94 traditional double rooms, as well as two staff apartments. The complex includes attractive amenities, such as a gaming room, a multipurpose room framed by two walls of floor-to-ceiling windows, a makerspace, private courtyard, on-site laundry with high-tech features and space for retail operations on the first floor.

Located at Bluford and Stewart streets, across from Harrison Auditorium on Nocho Street, Bluford Residence Hall also is close to academic classrooms, Williams Dining Hall, F.D. Bluford Library and student gathering spots. It is adjacent to North Carolina A&T’s National Historic District and important structures such as Dudley Memorial Building and the February One monument to the A&T Four.

A&T, which remains the nation’s largest historically Black university (HBCU) for a 12th consecutive year, had 15,275 students in 2025-26 and expects enrollment to crest above 16,000 for the fall 2026 semester. More than 6,000 A&T students live in on-campus housing, and move-in day for new students in the next academic year will be Saturday, Aug. 15.

“Richmond and Blair Halls in Aggie Village opened in 2005, and since then, our university has added nearly 6,000 students,” said Chancellor James R. Martin II. “We will likely enroll an additional 1,000 this fall, so we are especially grateful to have 405 new spaces here at Bluford to accommodate many of them.”

A&T first announced plans for Bluford Residence Hall in 2018 and broke ground for it in 2024. William Barlow ‘86, associate vice chancellor for Facilities, said plans for the complex evolved with guidance from university leaders and the N.C. A&T Real Estate Foundation Inc., support from the university’s budget and finance officers and input from A&T student in the Residence Hall Association who worked on the project’s scope and design.

The University of North Carolina Board of Governors issued about $59 million in bonds on behalf of A&T in 2023 to pay for construction, which in total amounted to $64 million.

“Bluford Residence Hall is a transformative investment in the student experience that will support students’ wellbeing, engagement, learning and success,” said Christopher C. Catching, Ed.D., vice chancellor for Student Affairs. “Our Housing and Residence Life team looks forward to helping our students develop Bluford Residence Hall into a dynamic living-learning community.”

Following a ceremony that included remarks from Residence Hall Association President Satchel Wilson, UNC Board of Governors Secretary Pearl Burris-Floyd, N.C. A&T Board of Trustees Chair Gina Loften ’90 and Guilford County Board of Commissioners Vice Chair J. Carlvena Foster, those in attendance had the opportunity to tour Bluford Residence Hall, ask questions about its features and amenities and enjoy refreshments.

The university’s first new residence hall in nearly two decades is named for Ferdinand D. Bluford, the university’s third president – the first who had not been born into enslavement – and longest-serving leader, from 1925 to 1955. A&T’s library also is named for him. His nephew, John W. Bluford III, a former vice chair of the N.C. A&T Board of Trustees, was on hand for Tuesday’s celebration along with other members of the family.

“Our upstart campus was just over 30 years old when President Bluford assumed its leadership, and began turning it into an institution more recognizable as a college by current standards,” said Martin. “Over his tenure, he created schools of Agriculture, Engineering, Education, Nursing and General Studies and launched the Graduate College and the Technical Institute.

“It is fitting and appropriate that this bold new building be named in honor of such a bold and consequential leader.”

Bluford Residence Hall also is the university’s first development in Precinct F of the campus master plan. Bounded by Lindsay, Dudley, Laurel and Bluford streets, Bluford’s north side faces toward A&T’s World War Memorial Stadium, which also is on the National Register of Historic Places.

The master plan calls for a new complex for the John R. and Kathy R. Hairston College of Health and Human Sciences – which continues to grow – as well as athletics fields and a new wellness and recreation center, a performing arts center, two more residence halls, a new University Police Department building and more. The Hairston College complex received $5.6 million in design and planning funding in the recently passed state budget.

“We are on the precipice of attaining the Carnegie Classifications’ Research 1 designation and joining the best 187 American universities already so classified. When we do, we’re likely to become the first public HBCU classified as R1,” said Martin.

“The 405 students who will begin living here this fall will have the opportunity to continue the legacy of transformation and leadership that have made our university great. I look forward to seeing how they make their mark at North Carolina A&T and how they help propel us into an even brighter future.”