If you're interested in living in an already established identity-based mod, please complete a common application (PDF) or see below to complete the specific application for the mod you are interested in and submit it to the housing operations office. The deadline to submit an application is Monday, April 4, 2011.

The input deadline for current identity-based mods is Monday, April 11, 2011. You must have all your residents committed and your completed form turned into the housing operations office by NOON on that day to avoid your mod going into the general lottery.

If you want to start a new identity-based mod, please refer to the application instructions below. The deadline to apply for a new identity-based mod for Fall 2011 is Tuesday, April 5, 2011.

The Identity-Based Mods for 2010-2011:

Greenwich 11: Mixed Race
Greenwich 25: LGBTQIA (pdf)
Greenwich 31: Latino
Enfield 52: Students of Color
Enfield 54: Queer
Enfield 60: Women of Color
Prescott 90: Men of Color

Residence Life is strongly committed to offering identity-based housing.

Residence Life has established identity-based housing to support the members of our community who have been historically under-represented in this country and on this campus, and to counter oppression. This arises from our commitment to fostering diverse, socially just, and inclusive communities.

We recognize that our society--through its laws, institutional structures, and customs--has privileged some social groups while systematically disadvantaging and disenfranchising others. Even as we struggle to end these practices, we recognize that day-to-day life for members of these disadvantaged groups can be hurtful and exhausting.

How does identity-based housing help counter oppression?

Identity-based housing is an institutional structure designed to assist members of historically oppressed groups in supporting each other. It helps to create an added level of psychological comfort and safety for those who choose to live in those spaces, often providing the foundation for those students to be able to engage fully in the greater community.

Creating these safe spaces, in collaboration with centers on campus, will benefit the entire community. We must have the full engagement of all our community members, especially those whose experiences, ideas, and perspectives are different from those of the College’s mainstream population. It is through these means that we, as a full community, are most likely to challenge assumptions, craft new solutions to problems, and perform to our highest ability.

What are the criteria for an identity-based housing group?

* The group must demonstrate a compelling need for a living space that includes
      a) showing the need for a mutually supportive living environment;
      b) showing that the creation of the space would be a benefit to the Hampshire community or to the goals of that community in promoting diversity;

* The group is identity-based (such as race, culture, gender, sexual orientation);

* The group currently experiences or has historically experienced oppression within or outside the Hampshire community;

* The group must be able to fill a mod or hallway upon creation for the academic year applied for, and demonstrate that those students are willing to relinquish all other housing options for the creation of the space; the number of students who sign the application determines size of mod (5-8 person mod);

* The identity of a group must be distinct from membership in any campus or political organization.

How to Apply for Identity-Based Housing

1. Schedule a meeting with the director of housing operations to discuss the procedures and policy. The deadline for applications will be approximately one month prior to the campus-wide lottery. Applications are only accepted during the spring term for the following academic year.

2. Gather committed signatures of five to eight students. These are required for the application, and those students will not lottery with any other group.

3. Write a statement addressing the following:

   * Who is the group and what does its identity-based designation mean?

   * What specifically is the group looking for in a housing situation?

   * Why is the group going through the application process as opposed to securing a space through normal means (lottery) and self-designating?

   * Why should the College recognize this group’s needs over other groups?

4. Return the application by the due date to the director of housing operations, Box MH.

Applicants will be notified at least one week prior to the first stage of the mod lottery whether their group was approved for an identity-based mod.

How does being an officially recognized identity-based group affect the Lottery process?

If a group submits an application and a completed input form, and is granted special identity-based status, it will receive a mod at the mod lottery. The group, with its lottery point letters, will take part in the lottery for the size mod it has requested. The group will be allowed to choose whatever mod its total numbers merit in the lottery. If the group has not “won” a mod when only one mod of its size is left, that last mod will be reserved for the group.

What is my commitment, if I agree to live in identity-based housing?

Signing an input form or an application to create a new identity-based mod indicates a commitment to live in this mod for the coming year.

How do we keep our same identity-based mod for next year?

To maintain the same mod year-to-year, identity-based groups need to complete an input form, filling all beds in that mod, prior to the lottery each spring. If the mod remains the same size, they will be able to stay in the exact same mod. If a group changes size, then they will not be able to keep their current mod, but will be guranteed another mod that matches the size of their current group. This guarantee is limited by the size restrictions for identity-based mods, which requires them to be from 5 to 8 people in size.

If a group fails to fill an input form by the deadline, it will lose its identity-based status, and that mod will go into the general lottery. A one-year grace period will then apply to that specific mod. If the group is able to re-form and get enough signatures, it can re-claim that specific mod during the next spring's identity-based housing process. If the group members are not able to reclaim the mod that year, that mod will no longer be linked to that specific identity-based group.