Scholarship Celebrates Beloved College Lodge

It’s not on the National Register of Historic Places. It wasn’t built or owned by some prominent 19th-century Charlestonian. It doesn’t lay claim to any state-of-the-art student-focused attributes. In fact, it was never even intended for students. In many ways, it’s the College’s architectural and aesthetic black sheep. But for the thousands of students who’ve called it home, there’s no place quite like College Lodge.

The Bowdens with the first recipient of the 402 Scholarship, Darien Parker ’20

This sentiment certainly holds true for Kristen Faretra Bowden ’95, who lived in College Lodge for four of her five years as a CofC student. Many of Bowden’s best memories at the College of Charleston involve College Lodge. That’s why she and her husband Greg created the 402 Scholarship in celebration of College Lodge. The scholarship name honors Kristen’s old room number: 402.

RELATED: Read about College Lodge’s history as the Downtowner Motor Inn.

The Bowdens hope that the scholarship not only acknowledges the important role College Lodge played in Kristen’s student experience, but also helps deserving students. As the first scholarship in the College’s history to support students in a particular residence hall, the Bowdens’ gift is proof that philanthropy can be fun.

“We are so excited to have our first residential scholarship, and it doesn’t surprise me that it is for College Lodge,” says Melantha Ardrey ’02, director of residence life. “As long as I’ve been here, College Lodge has had a wonderfully passionate and tight-knit community. It’s exactly what we want to see in a residence hall – a place that fosters student growth inside and outside of the classroom, a place where students become a part of a community, a place for students to call home.”

Sure, College Lodge is still a little at odds with the rest of buildings on campus, but residents past and present agree there is no place like The Lodge. And, thanks to the Bowdens, this quirky residence hall can also lay claim to the one and only residential hall scholarship at the College of Charleston.