The Office of Residence Life has structured the Campus House selection process to foster student engagement with community partners or College Organizations. Program Houses are specifically connected with College of Wooster Student Organizations. Service Houses are connected with outside service agencies within the City of Wooster.
The following goals when it comes to the campus house experience: ensure that those that are living in the houses are having an engaging educational experience that is incorporating best practices and that those living there are committed to the house for the right reasons; the community partners feel like they are being honored and respected; that we don’t leave our community partners hanging at the end of the year if a group “disappears”; and lastly, anyone who wants this type of experience has the opportunity to apply and be a part of the service house experience. Students apply individually to these houses.
Please see the following information regarding Campus Houses:
- No new community partners or campus programs are being considered for the College of Wooster. We have established a list of service agencies that we have developed relationships with and would like to continue working with The College and student volunteers. As long as the student organization remains in good standing current college programs will remain.
- The Office of Residence Life will reach out to existing partners to see if they want/are able to continue and find out what their ideal number of participants is.
- To ensure equitable access to these houses, individuals will not apply as a group, but will apply as an individual or with a roommate to a specific service.
- Those applying as an individual could be placed with a roommate. There are no guaranteed singles. Singles in campus houses are not equivalent to singles in residential halls.
- Program and Service houses have specific requirements for students to complete to be considered eligible to live in the house for the current and future semesters. Failing to complete the requirements will result in removal of the Program/Service House (please see below).
Program Houses (Student must be on the active roster for the organizations below to be considered for a program house)
REQUIREMENTS: Students living in program houses must complete one campus wide program each semester. This program must be accessible to the entire community and advertised via the Residence Life Office.
- Greenhouse
- Women of Images
- Live Action Role Play (LARP)
- African Student Union (ASU)
- Jewish Student Organization (Formerly Hillel)
- Common Grounds
Service Houses (Students may be interviewed and selected by external agency to be considered for a service house)
REQUIREMENTS: Students must complete monthly service hours (2 hours per week per individual). Hours must be submitted to https://volunteer.wooster.edu/ by the last business day of the month. Hours will be suspended during any College Break.
- Aspire
- Boys & Girls Club
- College of Wooster Preschool
- Community Breakfast (Trinity UCC)
- Cornerstone Playlab
- Edgewood Middle School
- Goodwill
- Humane Society
- OHuddle
- People to People
- West View Healthy Living (Retirement Center)
The following agencies will not have a service house for 2025-2026 AY:
- Girls on the Run
- Homework for Hoops (Anazao Community Partners)
- Wooster Montessori
Charter Houses
Charter Houses are spaces on campus dedicated to a specific student organization. As long as the student organization is active, a house will be reserved for students or that student organization. Below are the two student organizations that have identified charter houses.
Women of Images: Women of Images is an organization that is determined to help women of color grow, uplift each other, and achieve success. These goals are achieved through the affirmation of the inherent beauty of all women of color as well as the education, leadership, and mentorship of first-year students. The Women of Images House, Colonial House, and organization both strive to empower minority members of our campus and community, and we are unyielding in our determination to assert the validity of our culture and heritage. Through living in the house and being a member of the organization, women of color on campus are given the opportunity to interact, bond, and learn from many other minority students at the College of Wooster. One of our program house’s main purposes is to serve as a support system for the incoming and current women of color on campus. In this program, new members have the opportunity to learn from active members about the many adjustments needed in the transition from high school to college, as well as what it means to be a woman of color in America today. Our organization also furthers cultural awareness on the college campus and in the Wooster community. First-year students will participate in assorted Women of Images traditions and events that serve to increase campus awareness of the contributions made to America by women of color. The mission of Women of Images is to provide a safe space for women of color as well as Women of Images members on campus, while simultaneously fostering a healthy learning environment about what it means to be a woman of color in America.
Charter houses are historic programs with strong ties to BIPOC student constituencies, like The Men of Harambee (Inactive for the 2024-2025 AY) and Women of Images.