On March 13, 2023, Bryn Mawr announced that, in the fall of 2023, the College will be piloting a new affinity housing program, the Intercultural Living and Learning Center (ILLC), in Rhoads South. The first floor will be dedicated to Pan-Asian Culture, the second is BIPOC Belonging, and the third for Interfaith Engagement. Students who consider themselves to be active and engaged members of any of these communities were encouraged to apply before room draw began.
There have been ongoing student requests for new affinity housing options, with some students suggesting that Cambrian Row, which used to house the departments that are now inside the newly constructed Wellness Center, be turned into affinity housing. Haverford has four “special interest” housing options, including a substance-free house, the Black Cultural Center, an LGBTQ+ house and the Latinx Cultural Center (which was reestablished due to strike demands after being shut down for over a decade).
Currently, there is only one cultural living community at Bryn Mawr, the Enid Cook ’31 Center (ECC). Named for the first Black graduate of Bryn Mawr College, the ECC serves as a home for Black and Latinx students on campus. Due to the high popularity of the ECC, it’s expanded into the upper floor of New Dorm. Additionally, it acts as a cultural programming center for these communities due to a $15,000 raise in funding as the seventh 2020 strike demand.
In a similar sense as the ECC acting as the center for non-housing programming, the new ILLC is intended to act as a “hub” for cultural communication and “intercultural community building and exchange.” Residents will work closely with the Pensby Center and each floor will be required to help hold a minimum of one “intercultural event” per semester. In order to “strengthen engagement and learning across campus communities,” these events will be required to be open to all students of the undergraduate body.
For the upcoming academic year, the ILLC will continue to be winter break housing. Students were torn over this issue, as some saw this as a betrayal of what is purported to be a safe space. A petition garnered 159 signatures asking to get the winter break housing moved out of Rhoads. The petition’s creator, “Luna D,” wrote that “this means that random students will be living in these supposed safe spaces while its residents are away. Students who do not belong to these affinity groups should not intrude on cultural spaces, and BIPOC students should not be required to allow strangers in their rooms as a condition before they are provided with affinity housing.”
However, other students disapproved of the petition, saying that Rhoads has typically been a safe space for Pan-Asian international students during winter break. Bryn Mawr’s international students make up nearly 20% of the student population, and many of these international students utilize the winter break housing. They posted in response to the petition about the positives of Rhoads still being winter break housing, arguing that it is already a safe space for Pan-Asian students during this long break and is now officially being recognized by the school.
This housing option will be a pilot program in 2023-24 year, but students remain hopeful about what this means for for increased affinity housing options on campus.
