Living & Learning Communities

Kostka Women's Experience

Open to First-Year Students Only
40 Residents - Traditional Style Housing

The Women’s Experience in Kostka Hall, an all-female hall on Upper Campus, strives to engage residents in conversations around women’s issues, empowering women, and women’s leadership. The Kostka Women's community works in collaboration with the BC Women’s Center to offer dinner series, retreats, peer mentors, In-Hall programs, and opportunities to connect with women in leadership roles. Through the Kostka Women's Experience, community members deepen their commitment to personal health and wellness, explore and develop their identity, and engage in meaningful conversations.

Multicultural Learning Experience

Open to First-Year Students and Sophomore Students Only
49 Residents - Traditional Style Housing (First-Year Students)
74 Residents - 6-Person & 8-Person Suites (Sophomore Students)

First-Year Students

The Multicultural Learning Experience is a diverse community of backgrounds and ethnicities, all committed to celebrating difference and promoting acceptance. MLE focuses on diversity in all forms including race, gender, sexual orientation, ethnicity, physical ability, religion, and more. Students in this community will live in an inclusive community dedicated to promoting the understanding of differences and celebrating diversity. Through group discussions on multiculturalism, diversity, social justice, and exploration of identity, students will gain an expanded worldview, thus creating a safe, welcoming, and fun living space for all.

Sophomore Students

The Multicultural Learning Experience for Sophomores is home to students who share a passion for exploring issues of diversity and social justice and becoming agents of social change. This community is for students who are committed to leadership development, and who see leadership as a collaborative process to promote social change. Students will get to further develop their own leadership skills, explore their passions, and apply knowledge to have a positive impact on their community. Students will be required to take a 1-credit course. (Only available to rising sophomores)

Perspectives Living & Learning

Open to First-Year Students Only
80 Residents - Traditional Style Housing (Perspectives students are not housed together; they will have non-Perspectives roommates. Please email the Perspectives program for more information)

The Perspectives Living & Learning Community is an academic initiative for first year students that possesses a distinct bond between an academic course and a residential living community. Students who live in this community are afforded the opportunity to participate in specialized programming which creates links with the Perspectives curriculum, creates deeper relationships between students, faculty, and administrators, and develops a strong peer cohort. The program’s goal is to promote the development of authentic friendships that are both intellectual and social. This common bond and social interaction increases academic attentiveness and connection with classmates.

Shaw Leadership Progam

Open to First-Year Students Only
20 Residents - Traditional Style Housing

The Shaw Leadership Program is a unique four-year living–learning program run through the Office of Residential Life. Each summer, 20 highly motivated incoming First Year students are selected from a competitive applicant pool to become the "Shaw Class" for that graduating class. During the first year in the program, students reside in the Shaw House, attend weekly leadership workshops, participate in community service opportunities, and apply the skills they learn to create and complete a leadership project.

Healthy Living

Open to All Class Years
54 Residents - Traditional Style Housing (First-Year Students)
76 Residents - 8-Person Suites (Sophomore Students)
43 Residents - 2-Person, 3-Person, 4-Person Apartments (Junior/Senior Students)

Boston College offers two Healthy Living Communities for students interested in living in an environment free of alcohol, tobacco, and other unhealthy substances. Each community encourages members to maintain a lifestyle that supports academic success, personal development, well-being, and a sense of community. Residents work to promote healthy choices within the hall and throughout the University through a variety of programs.

Sustainability

Open to Sophomore Students Only
35 Residents - 2-Person, 3-Person, 4-Person Apartments

The Sustainability Living & Learning Community in Reservoir Apartments is a community dedicated to rising sophomores interested in exploring the broad topic of sustainability, engaging in service, and being part of a new opportunity to promote environmental awareness. While no prior experience is necessary, an interest in and commitment to living in an intentional community around the issues of sustainability is necessary. A limited number of spaces are available on lower campus in Reservoir Apartments. Students must apply at the time of their housing intent.

Seacole Scholars

Open to First-Year Students Only
10 Residents - Traditional Style Housing (Seacole Scholars residents are not housed together, they will have non-Seacole Scholars roommates.  Please email Julianna Gonzalez-McLean for more information)

The Seacole Scholars program is a living and learning community for first-year nursing students committed to increasing the diversity of the nursing profession. We highly encourage students of color, first-generation to college students, and Montserrat students to apply for the Seacole Scholars program. Scholars will live in the same residence hall and will be required to participate in a 1-credit course that focuses on diversity, equity, and inclusion. In addition to the 1-credit Seacole Scholars Seminar, Seacole scholars will also register for perspectives and the required nursing courses (anatomy and physiology I, life science chemistry, and nursing first-year seminar). Perspectives fulfills your philosophy and theology core requirements. This special section will pay special attention to questions and claims regarding themes of suffering, care-giving, responsibility for self and for others, and their relation to the question of the existence of God and the rise of modern science.  If interested, please contact Julianna Gonzalez-McLean.

Honors

Open to Rising Seniors Only
40 Residents - 4-Person Apartments

Students have the unique opportunity to live in an atmosphere that starts in the classroom and extends to the residence hall. Faculty lectures and cultural, academic, and social programs are held in this residence hall throughout the year. This community is located in Gabelli Hall.