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How house boards affect house culture
A typical to most collegiate graduation requirements, Principia requires students to live on campus in living and learning communities. This benefit ensures that students feel welcomed, are encouraged to apply Christian Science to personal and academic challenges, take part in setting and upholding community standards, and create a sense of community for others to cherish.
Much of the administration and those who work for the office of Student Life help foster the sense of community within each house on campus. However, very little could be achieved without the help of a house board.
Within each house, a group of community elected students volunteer to serve a semester-long position. Positions range from Presidents to potty note transcribers. Each position is important in its own way. Together, they help promote the communal aspect each house is known for.
House Boards do an incredible amount of work in order to make residency enjoyable. They serve as a liaison between the student body and administration. Most boards divulge in weekly meetings where they regularly hash out ideas and explore creative ways their house can be expressed on campus.
Taking things to the physical extreme, Lowrey’s house board hosts an open house meeting almost every week. Each meeting consists of nick-name calling, updates on the house’s activities and a beefing segment where students challenge each other to wrestle on the matt that blankets the basement floor.
Other houses take a more traditional approach to their house board meetings. Ferguson meetings tend to be short and sweet. R/CE Dan Schneider and the house president will go through the most important items on the agenda, and proceed to the reports of board members who speak about the tasks they accomplished throughout the week.
Senior and Ferguson House Metaphysical Head, John Challenger, spoke highly of the individuals who tend to support the house by volunteering to be on the board. “Regardless of the role or position they have, they want to give back to the community. Those desires have been true in my own experience plus the desire to help the college progress as an educational institution,” he said.
Challenged with the task of caring for those closest to them, board members are expected to make a difference. Whether it’s planning and setting up house-sponsored dances or changing the printer paper in study rooms, these groups of individuals deserve a lot of respect for going the extra mile to make sure the student body feels involved and loved in each living environment.