Bryn Mawr College offers separate dorm floors for 'BIPOC Belonging' and 'Pan-Asian Culture'
Bryn Mawr College is offering separate dorm floors for "BIPOC Belonging" and "Pan-Asian Culture" in an affinity housing pilot program that runs from 2023-2024.
Bryn Mawr College in Pennsylvania is offering separate dorm floors for “BIPOC Belonging” and “Pan-Asian Culture” in an affinity housing pilot program that runs from 2023-2024.
According to a college webpage, the Intercultural Living and Learning Center has three floors “designated to these areas of living and learning: (1) BIPOC Belonging, (2) Pan-Asian Cultures, and (3) Interfaith Engagement.”
Students who “share in these identities and those who are committed to these affinity” are encouraged to apply for the affinity housing, the webpage states.
The Bi-College News reported that the new program was announced in April 2023.
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The college said that each of the three floors “were chosen based on expressed student interest and requests over time.”
According to the news outlet, 159 people signed a petition seeking to get winter break housing moved out of the dorm where affinity housing is located, stating that it would violate the “safe space.
”This means that random students will be living in these supposed safe spaces while its residents are away. Students who do not belong to these affinity groups should not intrude on cultural spaces, and BIPOC students should not be required to allow strangers in their rooms as a condition before they are provided with affinity housing,” the petition states.
