Cook Hall Renovation

2026-2027 Academic Year Opening Status: Cook Hall is closed for the academic year while its active renovation advances. Students should rely on Student Affairs for current housing assignments and resident-service information.

Renewing a Familiar Howard Residence Hall

Built in 1938, Cook Hall has long served as a home for Howard students at the northern edge of campus. The hall is named for George William Cook, a Howard alumnus who served the University for 58 years, led the School of Commerce and Finance, served as a University trustee, and helped found the NAACP.

Cook Hall's history also includes residents whose influence reached well beyond campus. Howard alumnus and celebrated musician Donny Hathaway lived in the hall as a student. Judge Arthur L. Burnett Sr., who later became the nation's first African American U.S. magistrate, also recalled living in Cook Hall when he arrived at Howard in 1952.

A Major Investment in the Residential Experience

The renovation will renew Cook Hall as a residential environment for future students. Work is addressing resident spaces, shared amenities, and core building systems, with current activity including building-envelope and window work. Closing the hall for the 2026-2027 academic year gives the project team room to advance intensive construction without asking residents to live around it.

Cook is the first major phase in Howard's planned residence-hall reinvestment sequence, with Drew Hall and Bethune Annex expected to follow in later phases. The larger program is intended to improve daily student life while extending the useful life and performance of important residential assets.

As construction progresses, we'll share a clearer account of the renewed rooms, common spaces, amenities, and building systems students will experience.

Future phases and schedule information reflect current targets as of the opening of the 2026-2027 academic year and may change as housing operations, project scope, and delivery schedules develop.