In the fall of 2005, this university announced a decision to relocate Buddhist House to a woodframe house. Starting last semester, Film, French, Japanese and Science Houses were moved into specially allocated dormitory spaces. For better or for worse, the nature of campus program housing is constantly being reassessed and deserves our continuous attention.
Program houses form a unique and integral part of the University life. What visiting pre-frosh isn’t regaled with tales of the University’s varied housing options? Program houses serve a vital function in providing productive spaces for dialogue, as well as in building and shaping communities of individuals who share similar interests and concerns. From the Bayit’s kosher kitchen to Buddhist House’s meditation room, having these relegated spaces facilitates the fulfillment of active groups’ missions, as well as, perhaps counter-intuitively, their accessibility to others.
Through the simple choice to live in a program house, individuals make the statement that they are committed to dialogue on certain issues, whether the significance and history of a religion, culture, racial identity, or area of study. That is not to say that members of program housing become spokespeople for a particular community as a whole, but they are making a public statement in their choice of living quarters and should be aware of this fact. The merging of the personal with the political is an important part of what Wesleyan claims to be—we live our ideas, and we must take responsibility for them as well.
Do program houses, as self-selecting communities, imply some degree of segregation? Absolutely, but not in a manner that necessarily decreases overall campus diversity or excludes others from dialogue on the missions represented by individual houses. Even without the physical imposition of program houses, social circles inevitably form and reflect a certain degree of common interest. What is most important is that physical separation does not create insurmountable difference—that we maintain respect for one another as fellow students that includes engaging in open and constructive discussion.
The University has made clear its stance on disallowing freshmen from program houses in the name of ensuring an unrestricted introduction to the diversity of college life. Point well taken. But it is important that the right of individual self-determination is respected and that by sophomore year students can actively shape their social lives through their choice of housing. We acknowledge that not all institutions provide such opportunities and we are grateful for them here.
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