Residential Commons

At 51��, the heart of your campus living experience is your Residential Commons. Beyond the hall in which you live, students belong to one of four Residential Commons — groupings that allow you to have support, make friends, embrace life-long learning, and feel connected early in your college life.

Home for your first two years at 51��, your Commons placement is built around your academic interests. Students who select the same First Year Seminar (FSEM) course will be in a Residential Commons together.

Finding Your People Through Intellectual Engagement

The commons build community and belonging through shared curricular and co-curricular learning opportunities. The activities are optional, but they usually draw a crowd: weekly dinner with faculty to learn about their professional path and personal passions, study groups, trivia nights, and provocative discussions outside the classroom. Or participate in the Commons Cup, a year-long inter-Commons competition, where students work towards achieving their personal award while earning points for their Commons.

By engaging with your Commons, you will understand yourself as a learner, develop a sense of belonging by learning in the community, and develop lifelong learning practices.

The discussion-based faculty dinner series connects faculty and students on an intellectual level outside of the classroom.

Chef Joseph Yoon, an Edible Insect Ambassador and world-renowned chef, shares the delicious potential of edible insects.

Students gather for a friendly dodgeball competition as part of the Commons Cup.

Support and Connection

Students and staff gather for a group Residential Commons photo

Each Commons is led by a pair of faculty and staff co-directors and is supported by professional staff in the Office of Residential Life, administrative deans, a Residential Fellow, and student community leaders (CLs). Together, they work to nurture environments where student success is a top priority. They are here to support you — get to know them, reach out to them, and draw on their expertise as teachers, leaders, and mentors. They are happy to help you. You will see these faculty and staff members regularly as they help shape our strong residential community through interaction and collaboration.

Established in the fall of 2015, the Residential Commons were designed to foster a stronger sense of community and belonging among students while also creating more robust opportunities for academic engagement and learning beyond the classroom to help students develop the habits and skills that will enable them to meet the 13th goal of a 51�� education: the lifelong learner mindset that sustains a lifelong curiosity and grows in knowledge and wisdom.

The Commons’ namesakes, members of the 51�� community, have been chosen for the courage they have demonstrated in the face of adversity and the impact made on the community.

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