Students had pizza with Professor James Zetzel, chair of Contemporary Civilization, in February 2013. Photo: Courtesy of the LLC
On November 1, 2012, in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, more than 60 residents of Hartley and Wallach Residence Halls, which constitute the Living Learning Center (LLC), helped set up cots and registered Spanish-speaking evacuees at a city shelter established at West 49th Street. The impromptu event, which Associate Director of Residential Programs Scott Helfrich says arose from “residents’ desire to help those affected,” garnered the “Community Service Program of the Year” award from the Office of Residential Programs’ Recognition and Appreciation Committee (RAC).
Among the LLC residents who volunteered was Jean LaFontant ’14, who lived in Hartley as a first-year and returned the following two years as a resident adviser (RA). “It was an experience that was really fruitful,” he says. “Sometimes you get lost in the minutiae of your life, but there are a lot of people who have larger problems.”
“LLC Serves the City at the 49th St. Hurricane Shelter,” as the volunteer event was formally called, exemplifies the LLC’s efforts to promote a tight-knit community of residents. Established in fall 2000 as Columbia’s only all-class year integrated residence, the LLC is based on the premise that living and interacting with upperclassmen can be a boon to students beginning their college careers. “I felt having students in the dorm who were older and had been in college for a bit would be really valuable,” says Martin Jaffe ’16 of his decision to live in Wallach as a first-year. “It ended up being really helpful, whether it was advice about classes or making me aware of events on campus.”
The Living Learning Center hosted Victoria Hamilton, director of the Columbia Office of Research Initiatives, in March 2013. Photo: Courtesy of the LLC
In addition to 468 student residents, the LLC is home to Assistant Dean of Student Affairs for Community Development Cristen Scully-Kromm and her family, who live in Wallach, and associate professor of electrical engineering Ioannis Kymissis, who lives with his family in Hartley. As dean-in-residence and faculty-in-residence, respectively, Scully-Kromm and Kymissis host events in their homes, including small monthly dinners with alumni and industry professionals, which are meant to expose LLC residents to a variety of fields. During the 2012–2013 academic year, speakers included Nate Bliss ’05, v.p. of the New York City Economic Development Corp., and Meredith Milstein ’09, an associate producer at CNN. “We really have driven home the importance of that alumni connection,” says Scully-Kromm, who notes that speakers usually encourage students to reach out to them after the events.
Opportunities to interact with alumni are part of the LLC’s signature programming, which ranges from light-hearted — in 2012–2013, residents were challenged to create cardboard canoes that could be paddled across the Dodge Fitness Center pool (a few succeeded) — to the more thought-provoking “Ask Me Anything” series, introduced in 2012–2013 as a forum to discuss sensitive issues such as mental health and LGBT topics. “How To” events, also established in 2012–2013, invite LLC residents to learn new skills; participants have tried juggling and salsa dancing.
Students played board games at a study break the night before the last day of classes in December 2012. Photo: Courtesy of the LLC
LLC events result from collaborations among Helfrich, the Residence Hall Leadership Organization, RAs and community advisers. Programming varies from year to year and reflects the interests of current residents. Naomi Senbet ’14, who as an RA in Wallach during the 2012–2013 academic year helped plan an outing for 20 students to the New York City Ballet that earned RAC’s “Community Program of the Month,” award, noted, “Residential life and programs can be an extension of experiential learning and I think the LLC [does an] exemplary [job with] that.”
And for many residents in the LLC, the opportunity to assist New Yorkers in need after Hurricane Sandy was part of that. “It was a good opportunity for community building within the LLC — just going down and being in solidarity with people who were suffering because of the storm,” Jaffe says.
— Nathalie Alonso ’08