Loyola Village Creating Community
Hoping to create a community through culture and education, residence hall staffers at Loyola Village have developed a program of events that mixes social skills with survival tips.
“We’re operating out of a mission to create a different kind of community in Loyola Village,” said Mark Thoma, assistant director of apartment living. “We want to help students make that transfer to apartment living but recognize that with that freedom comes responsibilities.”
Approximately 340 students live in Loyola Village with 44 faculty or staff and their spouses in 30 units spread throughout the village. A lounge space and offices for hall staff has been made out of one of the three-bedroom apartments.
In that space, hall staffers will launch such events as “Chicken Wings and Microwavable Things” to help teach students easy-to-fix meals; talks and presentations by artists visiting campus; a pumpkin carving contest in October; and an AIDS Day service program. Information on how to keep stoves and toilets clean and how to run appliances are already posted in each apartment.
Eventually, Loyola Village could become the paramount living-learning community on campus, with single floors or buildings developed around such themes as service or the arts and humanities. “It’s going to be a more mature experience of community,” Thoma said.
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