Author: Chris Suzdak
The mission of Occidental College is based on four cornerstones: excellence, equity, community and service. Of these four, the facet of community is central to Oxy’s latest transformation. In an effort to enhance the communities on campus, Residence Life and Housing Services plans to implement expanded themed housing options in the fall of 2010.
While themed housing already exists on campus, it is limited to the Pauley Multicultural Hall, Berkus Women’s Hall and the new Occidental Green House. Following an overhaul of its staff over the summer, Residence Life and Housing Services’ new themed housing plan will engage residents in campus-wide programming, intensive community building and activism by having them live in the “Norris Themed Village” – formerly known as Norris Hall.
“It really sends out a non-verbal message to incoming students that we are what we stand for,” Community Director of Middle Campus Chad Myers said.
Norris’ four towers will be distinguished from one another by specific themes: “Spirituality and Social Justice,” “Social Justice and Activism,” “Language and Culture” and “Visual and Performing Arts.” The spirituality and social justice tower will house students who wish to participate in spiritual activities such as yoga and meditation on a regular basis while examining how their beliefs relate to social justice.
The social justice and activism tower will be a gender-neutral community, where students need not indicate their gender upon applying – an option already available in Norris. Students here will be expected to work on social justice issues on and off campus.
The language and culture tower will be home to students who commit to practicing their language and cultural skills on a regular basis. Applicants can choose between French, Spanish and German when designating the linguistic group they would like to be a part of. They will also be encouraged to attend foreign language and international-themed events both on campus and around Los Angeles.
Finally, the visual and performing arts tower will support student artists of all kinds. Discourse will be centered around helping students foster creativity together and translate their passions into careers. Students who choose to apply and live in these spaces will be expected to put on related programming with their fellow residents throughout the year, though the exact amount of events required by each student is not clearly written on the application or Web site. Programming options include student-led fundraising campaigns, speaker series, hands-on workshops, movie screenings and any other campus-wide activities that tie back to a residence hall’s theme.
The applications for all themed housing options – including Pauley, Berkus and the Occidental Green House – request that students be active members of their prospective communities. One part of the application asks applicants to provide a detailed description of an event they would like to put on about a related issue.
Prior to the announcement of the Norris Themed Village, the themed housing expansion began this semester with the opening of the Occidental Green House, an off-campus residence owned by the school. It now houses five Oxy students who are committed to living a sustainable lifestyle while also promoting their ideals to the rest of campus. Three more spots in the house will open up for next year, Myers said.
According to Myers, the idea of expanded themed housing had been on the table for several years because of its growing popularity among universities across the nation, but was never really put to action at Oxy. When Myers arrived at Oxy this summer after leaving his post at Oberlin College in Ohio, one of the first things he did was advocate for the idea. Oxy looked to Oberlin when first designing the Sustainability House and Norris Themed Village initiatives.
President Jonathan Veitch sees eye-to-eye with Myers’ vision, having experienced similar living communities as an undergraduate at Stanford University, and stated that he believes the addition here will create a “rich living experience.”
In an effort to engage departments on campus that are already involved in the goals of the themed residences, ResLife approached Rev. Susan Young of the Office for Religious and Spiritual Life (ORSL) and Naddia Palacios of the Intercultural Community Center (ICC) to provide insight in the creation of the two social justice towers in Norris.
With inspiration from ORSL Programming Assistants, Young formed a proposal for a themed house where “residents would examine how a person’s commitment to social justice work can be sustained by spiritual practice,” Young said. ORSL’s existing programming – activities such as walking the labyrinth – will be integrated into the spirituality and social justice tower’s activities.
In the case of the social justice and activism tower, Palacios saw this as an ideal time to initiate an ICC-related residential experience. She said her belief is that Oxy has many students who are interested in social justice and activism but haven’t been able to find a way or a place to formally apply their passions. The ICC will encourage students who live in the two social justice-related towers to initiate their own projects and will help fund their programming.
In non-themed residence halls, ResLife typically gives programming funds to the Resident Advisors to put on events like hall spreads and study breaks. In the case of themed halls, these funds will be complemented with additional funds from academic and cultural departments with a vested interest – such as the ICC and ORSL – and will be divided among the residents to finance their programming.
Additionally, RLHS is planning to have Occidental professors play an active role in the implementation and actualization of the themed village.
“Our goal is to really get faculty more involved in the actual spaces, like having faculty come teach classes in [the common rooms],” Myers said. Each themed tower in Norris will have either a faculty or staff advisor who will be instrumental in helping coordinate various activities and events.
At the same time, the goal is for programming to be student-driven, Myers said. He envisions each resident working on at least two programs within the building and one campus-wide program, but said that no formal involvement requirements have been set. ResLife staff will work with students to ensure that everyone gets involved each semester and has a positive experience. Myers hopes that the application process this spring will be highly competitive so that themed houses will have motivated and interested students who will want to reach out and engage the rest of campus with their events.
Mike Kralovich (sophomore), a current resident at the Sustainability House, looks forward to seeing more themed housing on campus. “There are a bunch of great kids at Oxy but apathy and inaction are definitely noticeable issues,” Kralovich said. “Giving students a place where they can live together and share ideas will hopefully lead to a livelier and more actively engaged campus, which I think is something Oxy has to work on.”
Pauley Hall Hall Coordinator Deylin Thrift-Viveros (senior) has lived in the Multicultural Hall for several years now and believes themed housing options are important to have, especially because of the restrictions being put on students who want to move off campus, he said. But he recognizes potential problems between what the administration envisions for the idea and what students are actually willing to do.
“I feel the new social justice tower and spirituality tower are intriguing ideas, but I feel that they’re going to have to be well-executed and somewhat structured in order for them to fulfill their potential,” Thrift-Viveros said.
However, Myers remains confident about the Norris Themed Village and the expanded Pauley, Berkus and Sustainability House experiences. He expects the open-ended themes to serve as opportunities for students
to innovate and create programs and structure their residential experience independently.
“Students at Oxy kind of are hesitant for any kind of change,” Myers said. “I think it might be a bit of a shock at first. The first year might have some low numbers, but once students realize what it means to be a part of a themed house, I think it will go well.”
Although the themed housing expansion has gotten mostly positive reactions from the campus community, the possibility that it won’t get off the ground is not out of the question. While those involved insist that enough students will choose to live in a themed housing community in the 2010-2011 academic year, a back-up plan has been prepared in case not enough students end up applying before room draw this spring, Myers said. Themes would be consolidated into blocks within only a portion of Norris, leaving some towers and quads up for grabs in regular room draw.
On the other hand, if themed housing gets a big response from students, ResLife will be open to accept new theme proposals next year for portions of other residence halls as well, Myers said.
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