Lavender House LLC officially open in Genesee, Putnam, and Suffolk Halls
A new Living Learning Community (LLC) has been established in Genesee, Putnam, and Suffolk Residence Halls. The Lavender House LLC is a community for LGBTQ+ students interested in living with other students who share their identities and experiences. While there has previously been dedicated space in Putnam Hall for gender neutral and LGBTQ+ students, a ceremony was held on Nov. 1 to officially name the space Lavender House and establish LLCs in Genesee and Suffolk Halls.
According to Area Coordinator for Alleghany, Putnam, and Wyoming Halls Noelia Ruiz, she saw that students living in the LGBTQ+ spaces supported a more official designation as an LLC and a name like other communities have, such as Eco House and Tesla House in Monroe Hall.
“Space was already there [for LGBTQ+ students], but it wasn’t an LLC—it was more of a cohort, a shared space of students that wanted to live with students of a shared identity or allies to that community. I didn’t create it, but I thought I saw the need from the students to actually have a name to it instead of it just being a descriptor for the cohort,” said Ruiz.
She said that once she began encouraging students to submit suggestions for the name of the LLC, many students became excited about the prospect of having an official space on campus and the chance to be involved in the naming process.
“I got a lot of students submitting names, and then when we were doing the voting to decide a name, they were all really excited. I literally got so many votes; way more than I thought I was gonna get,” she said.
According to the Geneseo website, the LLCs aim to create an environment conducive to both academic and social success. There are a diverse collection of communities that students can choose to live in while living on campus.
Most recently, the college unveiled Umoja House last year, “an engaged intellectual community where students of diverse backgrounds can come together in a supportive environment to celebrate their identities while nurturing their leadership skills. Umoja is the first principle of Kwanzaa, meaning ‘Unity.’” The LLC is open to all students of any year or major.
Students interested in living in Lavender House or other LLCs can apply to join them via Simplicity while choosing their residence hall. All LLCs require an application, but many are open to students of all years and majors.
