Graphic by Kinsey Couture ’22
BY CORRINE LIU ’23
Learning Living Communities (LLCs) are a unique asset to Mount Holyoke residential life, and aim to provide support and community bonding between students on campus. They “provide opportunities for students who share common educational, social or co-curricular interests to live together in residence halls ... [and] explore their passions with a cohort of students,” according to the Mount Holyoke College website.
Although there are many LLCs for students to choose from, each goes through a careful evaluation and application process, requiring Residential Life approval before becoming available to students. According to the Mount Holyoke College website, 15 LLCs will be offered in the Fall semester of 2020.
Associate Dean of Students and Director of Residential Life Rachel Alldis explained just how thorough applications are. “When students submit ideas for a new LLC, we review each application and consider how students will benefit from the community,” she said. “Do we think there is enough student interest to support the community? What resources might the community need? And will we be able to provide those resources?”
“When it comes to students who submit an application to live in a particular LLC, we look for someone who can demonstrate how living in this community will benefit them, but also how they will contribute to the community,” Alldis continued. “We look for students who are excited to be part of the community and have a genuine interest in the theme of the floor.”
Many students who choose to live in, advise or create an LLC often have a distinctive experience living within it. According to Dannye Carpenter ’20, who serves as the community advisor for the Spanish language LLC, living in the LLC has added “another dimension of community to my residential experience, and has been very valuable for me to learn how hard it can be to construct a community experience in my position working as an advisor.”
Megan Horner ’23 said that she enjoys her experience living in the Arts LLC, because it has connected her to others with similar interests. “It’s a nice way to connect initially, with the added benefit of similar interests,” she said. “It is also nice, because we occasionally do fun activities that we know most people on the floor might enjoy, such as Paint Night.” Sophie Schempp ’23, who lives in the First Year Experience LLC, shared a similar opinion. “I have had a good experience so far. The Community Advisors are really nice and it was especially cool being on a floor with all the first-years at the beginning of the year,” Schempp said. “Living with people with similar interests can be a really great way to get to meet people.”
Carpenter explained her interest in the creation of an LLC for first-generation and low-income identifying students. “I think the Bread and Roses floor — or any other iteration of the FLIP floor — would serve a community which truly needs and deserves the space.”
Alldis explained that “the number of LLCs added each year depends [on] what ideas were submitted by students, but also in looking at how our communities are spaced out and what are we able to accommodate for the coming year.”
“From my experience, I think that there is a lot of undeveloped potential in LLCs,” Horner said. “More activities could be implemented and more people could be involved.”
“Each year, we review how all of the LLCs are currently working and decide what changes need to be made,” Alldis continued.
Despite the fact that applications take place in the spring and the following fall, brainstorming and evaluation for ways to improve the LLCs is a continuous process. “Some communities need different resources that only some buildings provide, like a kitchen or larger lounge space,” Alldis said. “We also try to keep most of our communities in more accessible buildings, so that limits some of the halls that we can use.”
This coming year, the only new LLC will be for queer and trans people of color (QTPOC), and was created by two student leaders from Familia, an on-campus network of LGBTQ+ people of color.
“Participating in an LLC will give students a chance to create a real sense of community with others they know they have something in common with,” Alldis said. “When that built-in commonality is present, students have a better level of comfort on their floor and they are able to more eagerly connect with others in the community, engage in meaningful dialogue and create a support system with others who share their interest and passion.”