When rising sophomore Darcy Rubin was applying for her first-year housing, she applied to the Sustainable Living Living-Learning Community. She said she wanted a community that would support her and hold her accountable, and didn’t want to miss out on the opportunity.
LLCs are groups of students living in the same residential area, who often share the same passion, interest or academic focus. LLCs are also advised by faculty or staff members who work within the same passion, interest or academic focus.
“I’m an environmental science major, and sustainability is something I’m passionate about,” Rubin said. “I also wanted to meet people I could bond with over sustainability.”
While living in the Sustainable Living LLC, she said she found a community of like-minded individuals and a sense of contributing to something bigger than her. In her mind, this is what makes LLCs so different from other campus residence halls.
Four new LLCs will open on campus at the beginning of the 2025-26 academic year. The new LLCs include Health Sciences, International House, Living with Data and Mi Casa.
The Health Sciences LLC allows students seeking a major in the School of Health Sciences to better interact with each other. According to Stacey Thomas, an advisor to the incoming Health Sciences LLC, students living in the LLC will be able to learn more about other majors in health science and get guidance from upperclassmen in their major.
Thomas says the LLC was originally planned to be for nursing students only, but was expanded to all health science majors to create more opportunities for peer learning.
“A student may not know exactly what a nurse does and a nurse may not know what a public health student would do, but they can learn to see how interdependent we are on each other,” Thomas said. “By living together and interacting together, these students are going to be able to see that from an undergraduate level.”
The Health Sciences LLC will be located in Global B. According to Thomas, students in the LLC will also be expected to organize a monthly table for College Coffee, with each month focusing on a different topic within health sciences. Students in the LLC will take COR 1100: The Global Experience as a cohort in the spring semester.
International House, also known as I-House, is an LLC consisting of both international and domestic students. The I-House will be located in Trollinger House and is exclusive to sophomores, juniors and seniors.
Denise Teeters, advisor to the LLC, said the I-House is meant to strengthen connections and global understanding between students of different nationalities and cultures. Both international and domestic students will be able to share their culture and experiences with other students while experiencing other cultures.
“We just felt like we have a diverse community of both international and domestic students,” Teeters said. “The focus is to have that exchange of diverse cultural perspectives and community buildings.”
The I-House will work with the Kernodle Center for many LLC events, with plans for residents to participate in the Kernodle Center’s Big Pick event, where students spend the morning picking grapes at Guildford County Farm to donate to those in need. Other LLC events will focus on taking students into the local Elon community and strengthening connections with locals, according to Teeters.
Living with Data is an LLC for students with interest in data analytics. The LLC will be located in Staley Hall and has partnered with Elon University’s Data Nexus, a campus organization that provides students with resources to learn about data competency.
While the Living with Data LLC is academic in nature, LLC advisor Crista Arangala said the LLC is not based on a particular major and is open to all students.
“It’s important for students to see where data is in their particular academic interests, as well as how it’s affecting them in their lives,” Arangala said. “We’re hoping to attract students to the LLC and the data analytics program that are just interested in data, whatever their respective field is.”
Students in the Living with Data LLC will learn more about the data management field through bi-weekly meetings with analysts in the field. Students in the Living with Data LLC will be put in a cohorted section of STS 2120: Statistics in Application.
The Latinx/Hispanic LLC, known as “Mi Casa,” allows students of all cultures and backgrounds to immerse themselves in Latinx culture, according to LLC advisor Vanessa Bravo. The LLC will be located in Global D and open to all students.
Rather than making Mi Casa exclusive to Latinx and Hispanic students, LLC advisor Vanessa Bravo wanted students of all backgrounds to learn about Hispanic culture and history and how it connects to the United States.
“About 20% of the whole country is people of Latino origin, so it’s a very important component of the country,” Bravo said. “It gives the students the opportunity to learn about a community that is very present in the United States, one that has given lots of contributions to the country.”
Mi Casa plans for students to attend events hosted by Global Neighborhood and El Centro, including Global Neighborhood’s film festival and El Centro’s Hispanic Heritage Month Kick-Off. Students in Mi Casa will be placed together in a COR 1100: The Global Experience class for the spring semester.
According to Director of Residence Life Kirsten Carrier, LLC decisions went out for all students – including incoming students – on May 30th.
These LLCs will join Elon University’s 23 other LLCs in the 2025-2026 academic year, bringing the total to 27. Bravo says all LLCs offer a different living style from traditional residence halls.
“They all are unique in their own right; some of them deal with disciplinary fields, there are others that are around values,” Bravo said. “It is a way for students to learn about a topic, but also to find a place, to find a sense of belonging faster than if they were not cohorted.”
