Residence Life Handbook

Purpose Statement

Living on campus is a significant part of the overall college experience and educational process. Living-learning environments provide opportunities to grow spiritually, develop interpersonal skills, increase understanding of diverse cultures, and learn self-discipline in organizing time for study, work, and social activities. Residential students learn independent responsibility while living among friends and peers. As stated in the HCU Vision document, Ten Pillars:

Pillar Four: Establish a Residential Society of Learning… 
You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. Matthew 22:37 (NASB) If you look at the architecture of the most venerable European foundations, you see that they were designed for communal practices, a shared life—refectories for common meals, residences, libraries, and lecture halls sharing the quad. A college was a communion and a community, a society of learners. Darryl Tippens, [i] Pepperdine University 

When students live together in addition to taking courses together, the learning extends beyond the classroom into the rest of the campus. Professors teach the students, but students also teach each other by sharing their own understanding of what they learned during a lecture or a debate between classmates. The students have the capacity to spur each other on to deeper thought about the material they study in common. In this way, the work of teaching and learning integrates itself into the lives of the students. They stay in the place where learning occurs and are constantly inspired to think about what they are studying. The same dynamics apply to their spiritual formation. Living together in a community that consciously seeks to follow Christ as a model helps students take their faith seriously. The campus becomes infused with a combination of scholarship, friendship, and Christian fellowship. Students live and study on the same ground. That unique combination is what inspires alumni of many universities to develop powerful bonds to their institutions. Their colleges and their related communities of learning and residence become woven into the tapestries of their lives. They are excited to return and to send their children to the same place to have the same experience. 

Living Areas

Students live in the following living areas:

Residence Life Staff

The Residence Life staff is committed to providing an atmosphere of learning and growth that facilitates a holistic experience in the context of university community. Residence Life professional staff, Resident Directors (RD) and Resident Assistants (RA) work together in developing a community conducive to student growth — spiritually, academically, physically, and socially.

Residence Life Expectations

Because of the University’s commitment to the residential experience, students are required to live on campus unless one or more of the following exceptions apply:

• 21 years of age or older prior to September 1
• Completed 64 credits prior to the beginning of Fall Semester
• Married
• Graduate student
• Part-time student
• Living at home with parents/guardians in the Houston area (more than 50 miles away from campus)

Any student who does not meet these criteria and desires to live off campus must appeal to do so. The appeal form is available in the HCU Residence Life Office or e-mail Residence Life.