Hong Hall Houses New Residents as WSR Relocates

For Dr. Eva Frey, moving into Hong Hall wasn’t just a moment worth celebrating – it was a moment long overdue.

In December 2024, Frey alongside Austin Beiermann, Director for Accessibility and Wellbeing Resources, were presented with the opportunity to expand the Wellbeing Services and Resources (WSR) office. At an on-campus “retreat” with leaders from different divisions at the university,  groups were asked to discuss campus improvements that would benefit the PLU community. Knowing that the block of buildings on 121st Street South and Park Ave South, where WSR resided, would soon be sold, Frey pitched the idea of moving the department to Hong Hall. “Hong came offline because the showers were leaking, and the cost of what would become likely full-bathroom renovations when we didn’t need the space as an institution didn’t make sense,” said Frey. “So us moving in here, and we promised we didn’t need showers, we could bring it back online, we could use it for the homing of a super department.”

In addition to the excitement of housing all three departments in one building, space was another important factor. Frey described that everyone in WSR shared an office inside of the Health Services building, which was the front “living room” area. The need for space aligned with how well they could serve students. “There was a classroom upstairs, a conference room upstairs, and a dorm kitchen, which then became the Boyish Charm studio,” said Frey. They also teach PLUS 100 classes and have group therapy sessions on the upstairs floors. “The first floor is our one-on-one connections with students and our second floor is our programming,” said Master of Social Work (MSW) fellow and clinical intern Logan Denan.

Through a partnership with the Social Work program at PLU, Bachelor of Social Work (BSW) and MSW students can complete their required internships at WSR. For Denan, working in WSR has provided numerous opportunities to expand his repertoire in social work. During his fifth year at PLU, Logan completed a psychology internship with WSR. During his internship, he became the host of Boyish Charm, and was a health navigator. Denan is now a clinical intern, assisting in group therapy sessions . “The MSW-WSR relationship is very strong and I am benefiting from that for sure,” said Denan. “It’s the right type of pre-professional program to align with the type of work that WSR does,” said Frey.

The team noted that all of the furniture in WSR was surplus from PLU spaces. “Some of the stuff was left here [in Hong hall]… and we repurposed it,” said Susan Pavur, Student Care Network Manager and Non-Clinical Case Manager. Hong also got some new exterior additions, such as frosted windows on the patio side of the building. “The year Hong launched, the words ‘active shooter’ was not in the vocabulary and while we spent the majority of the summer with the windows wide open and we loved looking out and seeing everybody walk past, this helps to blur that,” said Frey. “It’s both about our brand and identifying us as who we are, but it’s also about safety.”