March 1, 2006

Meet the SLUs!

(A) Women's House members and guests grill out; (B) Members of P & J looking spooky during Trick or Treat Street; (C) MFL members grin at Poetry Night; (D) Members of HHH just hanging around; (E) Tree House members eating pizza at Slu-Fest; (F) HBC members triumphant after painting the walls of their house; (G) HOT members put their best faces forward for a house picture; (H) Members of the I-House at Slu-Fest; and (I) CAH members and friends at CAH's Rock Star Party.

SLUSH week is long over, and all nine of Ohio Wesleyan's Small Living Units (SLUs) have selected their new members. The final step was completed last Friday, Feb. 24, as SLU members re-proposed each house to Residential Life, offering convincing evidence that their mission is both valid and being fulfilled. This is an important afternoon that occurs each year, because if a house does poorly during the presentation, and a new SLU proposed, there's a chance one could replace the other. 

As it turns out, the SLU members were able to keep their houses. For the 2006-07 academic year, the diverse SLU community will look something like this:

Rowland Ave.

House of Thought (HOT)

A SLU since fall 2003, the House of Thought (HOT) is the second newest themed house on campus. It was originally conceived as a philosophy house whose mission statement focused on 1) bridging the academic and residential sides of campus, 2) reflecting the goals of a liberal arts education and 3) incorporating philosophy into everyday life. For next year, HOT's current members have updated and revitalized its mission statement. The new mission will focus on programming that promotes critical thinking on various issues.

"Every year we've been exploring and feeling out what the best mission statement would be for the house," says junior HOT member Eric Magnus. "We're going towards the mission of critical thinking, which is still more liquid than the other SLUs. But with the critical thinking angle, our projects will focus on shedding light on an issue that we're passionate about. It's an idea that goes hand in hand with philosophy."

Creative Arts House (CAH)

The mission of OWU's boisterous Creative Arts House is to eliminate confining misconceptions about art, through education and celebration of the arts in everyday life. 

"The fact is that art is a constant influence on our everyday lives," reads CAH's mission statement. "The music that fills our radio waves, the comic strips we read, the advertisements, the films and television shows we watch, the clothes we wear, the news articles we read, the buildings we live and work in and much more are all part of art. Creativity in its most broad sense is what keeps us healthy and happy; we rely on the ability to express ourselves to others."

You may have experienced CAH's creative capacity at one of its many themed parties – the rock star party or the mustache party, for example – or at one of its house projects. For sophomore Dan Krofchek's fall semester project, he hosted an educational session about Brazilian jazz at the house, and served exotic blends of tea.

Asked about a favorite part about living at CAH, Krofchek says, "The daily exposure to the creative talents of your peers."

Women's House (WOHO)

The role of the Women's House on OWU's campus is two fold. Not only does the Women's House explore women's issues and promote women's rights with their programs, it also serves as a resource for women on this campus. The house is a mediator for women who need help with issues such as birth control and sexual assault. 

"I think it's important that women on this campus do have a place to feel safe to go," says sophomore member Jen Kirsop. "The fact that we are their peers is important, too."

A major part of Women's House programming is "Women's Week," an entire week of women's programming that takes place every spring. Set to begin March 24, the first Friday after Spring Break, this year's theme will be Women in the Media. The week will end with the annual Take Back the Night program, which is a rally and march around campus against sexual assault. Also, keep an eye out for sophomore Alison Draper's house project, "The Vagina Monologues", which will take place at 8 pm in the Stuy Smoker on March 3-5. 

Kirsop says she also enjoys the family atmosphere at the Women's House and that fact that everybody does their part to maintain the pleasant atmosphere. She notes that there is much less drama in the house than she experienced in dorm life. 

"But maybe that's just our house," she adds.

Modern Foreign Languages House (MFL)

As a small living unit, the Modern Foreign Language House is unique in that it has direct ties to OWU's Modern Foreign Language department. In fact, the house's mission involves promoting the MFL department as well as exploring cultural aspects related to these languages, which include Spanish, French, and German. Students who live in MFL must be major or minor in a modern foreign language, or be a native speaker. 

Senior Menen Hailu says she enjoys "the diversity in the house, and living within a small group of students."

 "This year, we have a Japanese student," says senior house member Menen Hailu, referring to senior Yo Hashizume. "It's like a family. We get to know each other really well through house projects and just hanging out."

One of MFL's annual projects is "poetry night," at which professors and students read poetry in different languages. Hailu says that MFL is also known for its projects that involve international foods, as well as its dance parties. 

Oak Hill Drive 

International House (I-House)

A portion of the mission for the International House is: "To encourage and promote diversity within a living environment. To share and learn together as we grow, and make international friendships and connections."

The I-House projects focus on maintaining and celebrating a diverse cultural environment while also integrating cultures into "one big family." Also known for its festive dance parties, a reoccurring I-House project is the "Global Beat Welcoming Party." Other past projects have centered on religious events such as Diwali, a festival of lights celebrated in India during which thousands of lamps are lit, homes are decorated, and sweets are distributed. The house has also invited the whole campus to fast with Tauheed, OWU's Islamic Society.

Junior Gladys Morris says that benefits to living at the I-House extend beyond the family environment. 

"Another perk is that now I have friends I can visit all around the world. That's pretty awesome," she says. "Next year we'll have people from China, Pakistan, India, Cyprus, Kazakhstan, Nepal, Bangladesh, Paraguay, and different parts of the US. You learn so much about everyone's cultures that you couldn't have learned from a ‘diversity class,' by just talking with them and sharing your stories of growing up."

Tree House

The environmentalist house on campus – the Tree House – is not really in a tree. Though the Tree House residents do support the existence of trees and would like to see them around for future generations, as well as the ozone layer and natural animal habitats. The Tree House has had some memorable fall semester projects, including the second annual education presentation from the Columbus Zoo and the Ohio Wildlife Center, hosted by senior Emily Galbraith, and a campaign to save the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska from oil drilling, organized by junior Dana Owen.

"Her [Owen's] work pertained to pending legislation in Congress and included petitioning, tabling in Ham-Wil to raise awareness, and organizing a trip to Washington, D.C. for a major demonstration," says senior Tree House moderator Betsy Gates.  

House of Black Culture (HBC)

Part of the mission of the Butler A. Jones House of Black Culture is to "promote cultural understanding and provide a forum for addressing Black concerns on campus." The second part is to serve as a "sanctuary" for discussions about African-American heritage generally. 

Senior moderator Elizabeth Antwi says during the three years she has lived at HBC, she has formed close ties with her house member.

"One of the best things is that we really have become a family," Antwi says. "I've gotten to know them all very intimately. They are some of my closest friends on campus. Some people might view the SLUs as cliques, but for the people who live there, there are so many benefits. You develop such a close network of friends."

This semester, Antwi and the rest of the house members are looking forward to the speaker Gloria Long who will be speaking on the theme of "community healing." The event will be senior Ricky Davis' house project, and will take place within the upcoming weeks, so keep your eyes open for further details. 

HBC members would also like to encourage students to attend the OMSA Black and Latino Student Leadership Conference, which takes place this Friday and Saturday. The conference includes three keynote speakers and the step show Saturday evening. More information is available at the tables at lunch.

Habitat for Humanity House (HHH)

Corey Baker, junior member of the Habitat for Humanity House, says that despite the fact that the house is the newest on campus, he hasn't noticed any overwhelming challenges. Perhaps this is because many of the members were already committed members of the national organization, Habitat for Humanity before applying. 

The SLU's mission is perhaps one of the clearest of all the SLUs: "to further the mission of Habitat for Humanity International on the Ohio Wesleyan University campus and in the Delaware community."

"We find diverse ways of expressing this concern in the form of our house projects, such as making care packages for Habitat families in Delaware, taking OWU freshmen to a build site for some hands-on experience, or taking 10 OWU students to the University of Toledo to do work there," says the house's moderator, senior Marian Homan.

In addition to helping build and strengthen the communities of those in need, Baker says the sense of community within HHH is also a major plus of living there.

"After a long, hard day, I can come home and ask the people studying in the living room to tell me the funniest story they can," Baker says. "Once they do, my bad day is a little brighter, and I'm ready to keep going."

William Street

House of Peace and Justice (P & J)

Like many of the SLUs, part of the mission of the Peace and Justice House is about community and diversity, striving to provide an environment "in which diverse ideas and backgrounds coexist in a cooperative living environment."

The other part of P & J's mission is social activism.

"P & J strives to, through programs as well as every-day actions, promote awareness and activism concerning a wide variety of social justice issues throughout the Ohio Wesleyan and Delaware community," says the house's moderator junior Julie Evans, summarizing the mission statement. "We believe a small group of dedicated, motivated students are able to make changes and progress – however small some may consider these changes – in the community, and hopefully, the world."

Incidentally, sophomore Amanda Masters divides the two most fabulous things about living in P & J into two similar categories.

"One is being a part of the mission statement, having the support of a lot of like-minded people who want to be activists for change," Masters says.

The other part involves the community environment at P & J, which includes the music, certain "P & J rituals," and the family atmosphere, which consists of present as well as past "P & J-ers."

"I wonder what other SLUs are like, because we really are like a family, cooking food together, hanging out together," Masters says. 

When it comes to the small living units, words like "family" and "community" seem to be reoccurring. Congrats to the SLU members for keeping their houses and for what has been almost a year of superb SLU projects. 

— Maggie Roush