Student-Athletes Find Comfort, Community at Renfrow Hall Apartments
Connecting with teammates and non-athletes offers new perspectives, friendships.
For student-athletes living in Renfrow Hall, apartment-style living provides an opportunity to deepen the bonds they’ve already forged with teammates through their sport.
“Athletic teams help create close bonds and immediate friends that you get to have for four years,” says Kylie-Ann Smith ’27, who lives in a Renfrow Hall apartment with two volleyball teammates and a third friend. “But I love my non-athlete friends just as much,” she adds.
Renfrow Hall opened about a year ago in downtown Grinnell, named in honor of Grinnell College’s first Black woman graduate, Edith Renfrow Smith ’37. The building forges a new and dynamic link between the College and the larger community; the public portion of the building, the Katherine Howell Weingart ’61 Civic Innovation Pavilion, serves as a unique gathering space for the entire community.
Creating a Home
Kylie-Ann Smith lives in a Renfrow Hall apartment with Megan Hefel and two of her volleyball teammates, Ani Ford and Millie Leonard, all class of ’27. They’ve transformed their apartment into a home with rugs, art (some of which they made at the Stew Makerspace a block away), comfortable furniture, and the warmth of their friendships.
The apartment has become their refuge, a place to celebrate together, have fun, and support each other through all the academic, athletic, and personal challenges of college life. They love cooking and eating together, having friends over, watching movies on the “human dog bed” — a giant beanbag chair — and just hanging out.
The Ups and Downs of Apartment Life
About five groups of athletic teammates share apartments in Renfrow, often with other non-athlete friends as well. They represent volleyball, men’s and women’s soccer, women’s basketball, and track and field.
Teammates share a special understanding of the time commitments and busy schedules that are part of life for a student-athlete, and they can offer each other support and encouragement.
There are downsides, of course. Like most new construction projects, Renfrow Hall was a bit behind schedule. It wasn’t ready for students to move in in August 2024, so residents had to live elsewhere until the building was finished. Some even had to move more than once.
It’s also a little harder to connect with other residents because each apartment and its residents are self-sufficient; there’s less need to go out. But Residence Life Coordinator Izzy Wilusz and her student staff are working hard to build community in Renfrow.
“I’ve been to a few of the events that we have,” Leonard says. “It’s been really nice to go and connect with people that way.”
Another inconvenience is the distance from Renfrow to the Bear Recreation and Athletic Center. It’s a good 15-minute trek, Smith says, but usually she enjoys the walk and the chance to clear her mind.
She says the perks more than make up for any inconvenience. “I like apartment living and I like being close to the kitchen. I also really, really enjoy being closer to town. I love walking to Saints Rest almost every morning and getting something or studying there.”
The Joy of Cooking
Access to a full kitchen allows student-athletes to have more control over what they’re eating. And sharing cultural and family traditions through food is one of Smith and her roommates’ favorite aspects of apartment life. Hefel especially enjoys being able to cook and bake regularly. “I love having my own kitchen so much,” she says.
Smith enjoys making foods that she grew up with at home in Hawaii. “I’ll share spam musubi and stuff, and it just makes me a lot happier.”
Ford also appreciates the social aspects of food and being able to host friends. “We definitely like having people come over, especially the volleyball team,” she says. “We’ve made friends with some people downstairs as well on other sports teams.”
Connecting Campus and Community
Renfrow Hall was designed to serve as a bridge between the College and the larger community, and it seems to be succeeding.
“I feel like I’m both involved in the College life and the community life,” Ford says. “I feel like I have that balance because I can choose to be a part of the College community, but then I feel like I’m actively being involved in the town community, which feels really nice.”