There are many options for community living on campus! Each year, the halls/floors that are identified as any specific community space can change based on housing demand. Returning students must indicate interest and/or apply to live in a community space before general room selection in April every year. New students will be able to apply during the summer prior to their first semester at Wheaton.

Common Interest Communities

Common Interest Communities (CICs) are residential areas that have unique focuses apart from our traditional halls. To live in one of these areas, students simply must opt in and/or apply to those focuses. Please note: some areas such as substance-free may require students to sign an additional Community Standards document.

Common Interest Areas

  • Female to Nonbinary Housing (All Students) — Students who identify on the female to nonbinary spectrum may elect to live in a specific building or floor with other self-identified individuals on the same spectrum. All gender identities are still allowed to visit the spaces and use facilities, but cannot live on the floor for a long-term basis.
  • Male to Nonbinary Housing (All Students) — Housing for interested students who identify on the male to nonbinary spectrum may elect to live in a specific building or floor with other self-identified individuals on the same spectrum. Other genders are still allowed to visit the spaces and use facilities, but cannot live on the floor for a long-term basis
  • Quiet Study (All Students) — Residents of Quiet Study housing agree to abide by a 24-hour study environment, which includes extended quiet and courtesy hours.
  • Substance Free (All Students) — Previously known as “wellness,” Substance Free housing residents commit to abstain from e-cigarettes, tobacco, alcohol, and other drugs.
  • LGBTQ+ & Ally Housing (All Students) — Housing for interested students who identify as LGBTQ+ or an ally may elect to live in a specific building or floor with other self-identified individuals on the same spectrum.

*Each year, the halls/floors that are identified as a CIC space can change based on the number of qualified applications. To the best of our ability, we want every student who qualifies to have the opportunity to live in a CIC.

Living Learning Communities

Living Learning Communities (LLCs) have residential and co-curricular programming. LLCs tend to be linked to a Student Affairs or Academic department and have specific requirements in terms of attending programs and being an active member of the community. Students must apply before general room selection each year to live in an LLC.

  • May Fellows / Beard (Returning Students Only) — Beard Hall hosts the May Fellows Living Learning Community and expands the educational experience beyond the classroom. This integrated community provides dynamic opportunities for faculty, students, staff, and community members to interact through co-curricular programming. Residents also design and participate in hall activities.
  • Wheaton Wellness Program (All Students) — “Wellness” is more than merely an abstinence from substances. It is the intersection of both physical and mental aspects of an individual’s life. This community explores how the different dimensions (Academic/Professional, Emotional, Environmental, Intellectual, Physical, Social, and Spiritual) of a student’s well-being contributes to their quality of life.
  • First Generation (All Students) — Brave, Bold & First Living Learning Community is an intentional floor for first-generation students, those who are first in their family or within their community to attend college. It provides leadership development and peer mentoring opportunities for Wheaton students designed to accelerate their personal and academic success.
  • Service Learning (All Students) — Join us as we embark on a new Living & Learning Community focused on rethinking and reimagining community-based service. Student members will share a floor in [one of our residence halls on campus] and work closely with a local faculty member to engage critically with what it means to be a community—Wheaton, Norton, and beyond—and, ultimately, how to put those ideas into real-life practice with equity and fairness in mind.

Theme Houses

Theme Houses are comprised of students that apply to live together with a common purpose or passion, and collaboratively share their theme with the larger Wheaton community. Through the diversity of personal experiences and academic pursuits, theme houses strive to enrich both their own and their fellow students’ co-curricular and academic learning. They are an active and available resource educating and raising awareness within the Wheaton Community as it pertains to their respective missions. They afford a uniquely focused form of experiential learning that holistically represents the liberal arts traditions of Wheaton College. Theme House living allows residents to experience more independent and unique living within the bounds of the Honor Code and Residential Life Community Standards.

Students can apply to be a Theme House member starting their second semester of their first year.

Suites

The suites of Gebbie and Keefe offer a different experience for returning students to live with fellow students in a shared environment. Usually comprised of 3 to 6 students, the rooms of each suite have a shared common space and provide double and single rooms for each occupant.

Suite housing is only available for returning students.