Since their beginning in Pauley Hall, Themed Living Communities (TLCs) at Occidental have provided students with residential spaces based on shared identities and interests. The college’s nine TLCs are intended to create strong links between students by providing educational programming around interest or identity, according to Occidental’s website.
Occidental College Assistant Dean of Students and Director of Residential Education & Housing Services (REHS) Isaiah Thomas said that TLCs offer a more intentional experience to center and celebrate students’ lived experiences.
Thomas said that REHS decided to expand and revitalize the program in 2019 to allow students to gain additional centered experiences.
“TLCs have been a program that students continue to advocate for, and REHS feels that students find immense value in living with students with similar interests, identities and expressions,” Thomas said.
Nirmala Rusli (sophomore) said the sense of shared cultural norms and community drew her to the Asian, Pacific Islander, Desi-American TLC.
“It’s also a sense of comfort knowing [that] everyone that you live with will take their shoes off at the door, they won’t have their outside clothes on their bed,“ Rusli said. “It’s really little cultural things that I’ve grown up with that I would like to replicate in my living situation in college, especially since I’m out of state, so it’s like having that sense of home.”
Rusli said she was interested in joining a TLC even before her first year and that it was one of the draws of attending Occidental.
“When I was going through the housing options for my incoming freshman year, I noticed there’s these cultural halls,” Rusli said. “But they weren’t open to first years, maybe I’ll do it next year. I knew of it early on.”
Only three out of the nine halls are available to first years: Baldwin House, Women’s Scholars and Multicultural. Thomas said that the application for TLCs occurs in the months leading up to room draw, and applicants have the chance to express their interest in a TLC and what they will contribute to the communities.
Nogosa Atekha (junior) said that he joined the Black Soul Collective his sophomore year to get away from the environment he felt at his high school, where he was constantly surrounded by people he could not resonate with.
“I wanted to be able to have a living space where people understood my thoughts, people understood my persona, people understood who I was without me having to elaborate as if I’m some science experiment,” said Atekha.
According to Atekha, one change between his first-year dorm, Bell Young, and the Berkus TLC has been the more reserved nature of the hall, especially because of the lack of common rooms.
“I want to be around people that I understand and understand me, but [I] also want to be in a place where I know almost everyone on the first name basis because we’re all one community,” Atekha said. “So I’m kind of stuck in the middle.”
Rusli also said that the lack of open spaces in Berkus Hall contributes to the disconnect between residents.
“There are no big open common spaces for people to really build friendships with people they’re not familiar with,” said Rusli. “It’s like one of those things where, there’s not really places to socialize as much, or at least that I know of. Even the lounges or the study rooms, you have to key into those. And I feel like you see somebody sitting in those and you’re like, oh, I don’t know if I’d sit there versus maybe if it was an open space you’d be around more people.”
Thomas said that REHS is open to feedback about the current TLCs, and is always making adjustments to best meet the needs of students. This fall, for example, the Multicultural TLC moved from Pauley Hall to Berkus House to accommodate student interest, according to The Occidental’s coverage of the change in May.
Ellie Chang (sophomore) said that she was disappointed by the Multicultural hall during her first year, but decided to reapply for her sophomore year because of the change.
“When I saw that the Multicultural Hall was being moved to Berkus House — it’s smaller [and they] had a more intentional aspect to the community — I was really excited because I didn’t get the experience I wanted last year,” Chang said. “This year has been so much better.”
Chang said that her experience this year is an improvement from last year, and that the theme of multiculturalism came about naturally in the house.
“I think people that are community-oriented and want to be around people that have different experiences than you and have the space to hear their experience and their stories should apply because I think it’s easy to live in your own little bubble at Oxy,” Chang said. “It’s important to reconnect with other cultures and be with people that are different than you.”
Contact Wura Ogunnaike at ogunnaike@oxy.edu.
