Then and Now
Wesleyan Program Houses

by Sandy Tello ’06

The history of program houses at Wesleyan is linked to the history of the first students of color to populate the campus in the early 1970s. Houses we all know and love such as X house, La Casa, and Triple A House, as they are commonly referred to today, were the direct result of the efforts put forth by those vanguard classes.

Thanks to a push made by professors David Swift, John Maguire, and Richard Ohmann, who were all well-known for their involvement in the Civil Rights Movement, John C. Hoy, then director of admission, was charged with the task of diversifying the University. Hoy’s efforts paid off; in 1965, 25 African American students were admitted to Wesleyan. Thirteen of them accepted and became the vanguard African American class at Wesleyan University. The students were placed in various residential halls around campus in the hopes that they would integrate into the larger Wesleyan community. To the surprise of the administration, integration was not what these students had in mind. They naturally sought each other out and found spaces where they could be themselves and support each other; many also rejected the notion that they were brought on campus for the purposes of edifying white Wesleyan.

In 1968, the Afro-American Society (AAS) was established to deal with the social and emotional issues of the growing African American community. Later that year, the AAS submitted a proposal for the creation of a special interest house that would address the need for a black cultural center for Wesleyan and the surrounding community; house a library; and act as a headquarters for the AAS where they could host faculty lectures and other events focused on black culture. The University responded almost immediately to the requests of the students and gave them 150 Washington Street, which was known as the “black house” and housed only six people; it was a start.

Still later that year, the AAS submitted another list of demands that expressed the need for black faculty on campus and the creation of an African American Institute and a library within the institute. With unanimous support from faculty and staff, the Afro-American Institute was established in 1969 with a mission to “serve as a framework for the development of Afro-American studies at Wesleyan and as an African American cultural center.” Shortly thereafter the AAS became Ujamaa, and the “black house” relocated to the John Wesley House and was officially renamed the Malcolm X House in a dedication ceremony in 1970.

In 1969, the same year that the African American Institute and the Malcolm X House were born, the Latino vanguard class of six Latino men, the largest number in the Ten College Exchange, were admitted to Wesleyan. These six men were very active and met informally under the title Engencio Maria de Hostas. As the group’s activities became more political so did their name. Ajua Campos was derived from a combination of the Chicano word “Ajua”: a Mexican-Indian War cry and the name of Puerto Rican nationalist Don Pedro Albizu Campos. In 1970, Ajua Campos presented the University with a list of grievances and demands that included: a need for Latin studies; Latino faculty; and a Latin House, all with the aim of increasing the Latino population on campus. In 1971, the University responded by giving them the Latin House on 170 College Street. Again, it was small, but a fair beginning. By 1974, the Latino student population had grown to 10 and they pushed for a larger house to accommodate the expanding community and its various activities. Once again the University responded almost instantaneously by giving them 230 Washington Street. The new house was officially named La Casa de Albizu Campos in spring 1974.

In the years that followed, La Casa, similar to Malcolm X House, was faced with the challenge of retaining the house, often times having to justify the need for such a house on campus. One of the stipulations for program houses, as stated by Residential Life, was that all the rooms in the houses be occupied. With student of color admission numbers at an all time low in the mid-70s, this was hard to accomplish for both houses, but the students managed to pull together and hold on to them, which speaks to their commitment to the continuing existence of the houses on campus. In 1980, La Casa was moved to 240 Washington Street, which was a significantly smaller space but has since been home to many Latino students who find it cozy and welcoming. Despite the change in location of La Casa, the house and its members have maintained the core feeling of “familia,” that is so important to its success as a resource and safe haven for Latino students at Wesleyan.

While the presence of Asian and Asian American students on campus preceded that of both African Americans and Latinos, a house for these students took a little longer to make an appearance, and this residence was conceptually, perhaps erroneously, different than both La Casa and Malcolm X House. In the 1960s, a small group of Wesleyan students formed the Wesleyan Asian Student Party (WASP), made up of Asians, Asian Americans, and other students interested in the Far East. This group was instrumental in the creation of the Department of Asian Languages and Literatures in 1967 and the East Asian studies major in 1972. In 1971, they submitted their own proposal for an Asia House which would be the first residential unit devoted to the education and celebration of Asian culture. That same year, they were given a house on Lincoln Street; however, the house was classified as a special interest house which by definition obligated them to “share their interest with the community.” Of the three ethno-cultural houses on campus, Asia House was the only one that began as a special interest house. La Casa and Malcolm X House were always seen as priority houses. Their primary purpose was to provide “a place for African American and Latino students to live.” (“Report of the Task Force on Residential Life,” Spring 1987) It gave these students an opportunity to interact closely with one another without having to: “reach out to the rest of the campus. Asia House, however, as a special interest house, had an obligation to reach out to the rest of the campus and to share its interests in the way that the other interest houses do.” (The Argus, October 1975) Therefore, they had less time and resources to concentrate on the needs of their group members.

Asia House also was different in that the residents of the house were of all different races; in 1973, there was only one Asian resident in the house. While it was not necessarily the safe haven for Asian students that is today, it did create an environment where Asian culture could be promoted and appreciated. In 1976, the house was relocated to 240 Washington Street, with a higher occupancy of 10 students. Not long after that, in 1980, WASP renamed itself Wesleyan Asian Interest Group (WAIG) and asked that Asia House be made into a priority house, like its peers La Casa and Malcolm X House which: “encompass a group that Wesleyan has deemed important to have as a part of the community. Housing is considered to be an important part of attracting that group to the campus and the onus is not on the group to justify itself.” (“Report of the Task Force on Residential Life,” Spring 1987). The Student Affairs Committee approved the request and stated that Asia House shared the same purpose as La Casa and Malcolm X house and should be recognized as a priority house. Since then, the WAIG has morphed into the Wesleyan Asian/Asian American Student Union (WA/AASU). In 1989, Asia House was renamed Asian/Asian American House and moved to 107 High Street, where it has been ever since.

All three of these houses have become central to the campus, to the University’s commitment to diversity and to the recruitment of new students of color. Furthermore, they have all managed to develop long-lasting and valuable programs such as cultural events, film screenings, and faculty lectures that continue to support and promote cultural consciousness and diversity on campus. While the 1970s at Wesleyan were dynamic and perhaps a bit tumultuous, it is thanks to them that we, the younger classes, have enjoyed the richness of cultural diversity on campus that exists today. From Expresiones, Jubilee, and Mabuhay to keynote speakers and convocations, to X House parties and La Casa jams, students of color have ample opportunity to express themselves and safe spaces in which to support one another. In fact, new cultural houses have been created since then including the Buddhist House, Chinese House, French House, German Haus, Japanese House, The Bayit, Turath House, and Women of Color House, all with missions to support each other and promote the practice and education of their respective cultures in the hope that Wesleyan as a community continues to see diversity as a priority and persists in addressing the issues of race and cultural diversity in the everyday lives of its students.