Are Living Learning Communities Coming to Whittier College?
Themed-housing pushes for 2018–2019 start
Imagine walking into Stauffer Residential Hall and seeing flags lining the hallways and decorating doorways, each one representing the heritage of the students living there. Also, imagine sprinkled around the residence hall pictures of families and family trees of these same students expressing their history and culture for all to see. In this scenario, an entire floor of Stauffer Hall has become Whittier College’s new Multicultural House. In this house, students are granted freedom of cultural expression while learning about the history and heritage of their fellow students. Students share their experiences of growing up in Latino, Asian, African American, or even in European-heritage households. In this way, students can immerse themselves in and lifestyles outside of their usual experience.
In this house, students are granted freedom of cultural expression while learning about the history and heritage of their fellow students.
The hypothetical Multicultural House could one of several “themed-housing” options on campus in the near future. Whittier College is currently in the process of developing themed-housing options like the one described above. Colleges and universities across the country use these programs as a mode of teaching, learning, and, most importantly, community building. Part of the purpose here would be to help improve Whittier College’s freshman retention rates.
The program would allow first-year students to pick a theme and a class that corresponds with that theme taught by a faculty advisor. The advisor wouldn’t just teach the themed class, but also live among the students in the themed housing. The program would require students to participate in a community service that parallels the house’s theme as. For example, with a multicultural-house theme, students might become involved with the Cultural Center’s extracurricular activities .
For the program, Whittier College plans to spend an average of $15,000-$20,000 for the themed housing, according to Dean of Students Joel Perez. The program, however, is still developing. According to Associate Dean of Students Joshua Hartman, “The school is short staffed and we are struggling to jump start the program. We are purely in the planning stage.” Both Perez and Hartman said they want to get the program done correctly rather than rush and end up stymying the program due to lack of funds or interest. “The prospective school year for the program to begin is for the 2018–2019 school year,” said Perez.
Dean Hartman himself is llustrative of the challenges involved with getting a living-learning community up and running on campus. “I hold three different positions in addition to helping Joel (Perez) out,” Hartman explained. “I am the Director of Student Conduct, Case Management, and Residential Life. Therefore, I am too busy. The three people that I have in residential life right now [Felirose Tamparong, Tea Bogue, and Tina Correl] are real busy themselves. So, as you can see, it’s a difficult time right now to start the program and we just don’t have the staff for it yet.”
It’s a tall order. Living-learning communities require staff support for the students. That means faculty advisors from multiple departments such as English, History, Business, and the hard sciences to take charge of a themed house. Faculty would be responsible for the house’s events, learning outcomes and expectations. Faculty members would possibly live in residence halls with students and help students obtain educational opportunities outside the classroom.
Additionally, the program would require staff to manage the application process for students who wish to choose a themed house upon enrollment. The idea is for a web portal similar to the online room draw students use to select roommates for upcoming school years. However, this time they would be choosing a themed-house option, or possibly creating their own if enough students have similar interests and the proposed theme is deemed appropriate.
According to history professor and Associate Dean of Faculty Development Laura McEnaney, Whittier College once had a program similar to living-learning communities. Students grouped together in residence halls and took paired courses according to their programs. However, due to the understaffed student life and residential life offices, the program was discontinued. The new Science Learning Center, however, is adding momentum to the push to bring such a program back. The idea is that the SLC offers more than just labs and classrooms, but an additional learning space and resources for students and themed-housing would parallel the SLC’s expected learning outcomes.
The recent presidential election offered a good example of the role living-learning communities might play in residential life here. As with other campuses serving diverse communities, many Whittier College students struggled in the wake of the results and the College did its best to provide opportunities for students to express their concerns and share a sense of community.
“So you talked about the elections? We’re not talking about all Republicans living on one floor or Democrats on another and all centrists in another. No, that’s not what it’s about. But there is a great opportunity for students to create a themed housing centered on politics and values that are expressed in America and in politics,” said Hartman. “This is how a democratic system should work where political opponents come together and can talk and find commonalities on issues that mainstream politics can never find a consensus.”
“The way I think about it is it helps to create a stronger sense of community and gives students opportunities to learn and grow outside the classroom.”
Imagine a residential house that served as a model of how opposing political parties can come talk and find commonalities on issues that just might lead to some common ground or at least understanding. In such a space, students could broaden their horizons about different social and political ideas going on in the world. They could host events with guest speakers and have forums with professors to extend their learning opportunities across disciplines.
Another example would be a Health and Wellness-themed house. Students there, for instance, might have rules restricting the use of drugs and alcohol. These students could implement an exercise regimen into their daily lives on top of their academic schedule that takes cues from departments such as English, History, Chemistry, Biology, or Kinesiology. Students participating in living-learning communities create sub-communities among those already established on campus and use them as learning opportunities.
“If it were me, personally, I would want an outdoor thing.”
When asked what positive outcomes he could foresee for living-learning communities at Whittier College, Dean Perez said, “Well the way I think about it is it helps to create a stronger sense of community and gives students opportunities to learn and grow outside the classroom.”
According to area coordinator Joe Melendez, the role of a residential advisor (R.A.) would not change in living-learning communities. “When you think about what an R.A. actually does, you apply it to the LLC’s. Their role becomes more intentional, meaning you focus it around the theme of the house,” said Melendez. “There isn’t much of a difference because the rules are still the same.”
When asked what theme they would pick for a residence hall if they were incoming freshman, both Dean Perez and Associate Dean Hartman smiled at the prospect. “That’s what we’re trying to figure out. If it were me, personally, I would want an outdoor thing,” said Hartman. “I feel like we’re in the middle of a city and I would like to be able to provide resources to me to go hiking or maybe to the beach or go kayaking out on the ocean somewhere.”
Perez’s pick would be a bit more practical than his colleagues. “I think for me… anything that’s going to help me be successful as a student, especially as a first generation college student,” said Perez. “Maybe something that has to do with entrepreneurship and innovation. I want students to be able to be able to develop apps or small businesses something along the lines that they can tap into the Whittier Scholars Program. Students would have an incentive to live together and think about ideas and concept that are above the average college student.”
