One of the important goals of Forman Christian College is to have a student body comprised of 50% women/50% men in the baccalaureate program by 2023. Currently at 36% female, a key item required to achieve this goal is the availability of safe, culturally appropriate housing for these young women. Without it, families will never allow their daughters to travel to Lahore and live on the FCC campus.
Completed in 2014, Hope Tower was constructed largely through a grant from USAID and furnished with grants and gifts from foundations, churches and individuals. Of the young women who have come to FCC in the last two years, many have come because their brothers or other male relatives, students at Forman, went home and spoke positively about the safety and comfort of this facility.
Hope Tower is designed to sleep 384. During the 2015-2016 academic year, 280 female students lived there. Not yet at capacity, this presented an unforeseen opportunity to house some of the single women who are either faculty or staff at Forman. Housing in Lahore for single women is very difficult to find, and 12 women took advantage of this opportunity for new, safe, clean housing on-campus during this past academic year.