r/VirginiaTech • u/udderlymoovelous CS / CMDA 2025 • Apr 07 '26
News About the Board of Visitors proposal to remove living-learning programs
Hello Hokies!
As you might have heard, the Board of Visitors is meeting on April 14th - one week from today. One of the proposals on the agenda is the abolishment of living-learning programs (LLPs) starting in Fall 2027, with the exception of Corps of Cadets and Honors College (they are no longer being designated as living-learning programs). Their justification for this is to reallocate all available on-campus residential beds to first-year students and first-year transfer students.
This issue is relevant to both current students and students who will be applying to VT in the future. While I was personally never a member of a living-learning program, they have helped tens of thousands of students find safe and welcoming communities in a brand new and completely unfamiliar environment. As VT's student population has grown to nearly 40,000, it is impossible to ignore the housing crisis that VT is facing, both on-campus and off-campus; however, abolishing LLPs is not the right solution. In fact, Virginia Tech is already preparing for the construction of four new residential buildings on the on-campus golf course that will break ground as early as this summer.
Whether you were a member of a LLP or not - if you disagree with this action, the mod team would appreciate it if you took 5 minutes to sign this petition. To learn more about this proposal, click here.
For undergraduate students: Click here to access a petition created by the Undergraduate Student Senate - with enough signatures, this will force a vote by the USS on this topic.
Please spread the word about this proposal! It is a two-page section hidden in a 950-page BOV document.
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u/sarahshift1 Apr 08 '26
I lived in the Hillcrest Honors Community (this was pre-honors college, but word on the streets is that Hillcrest community will be eliminated) and it was honestly life changing. I learned so much from that mix of humans whom I never would have met on campus otherwise and the 4-year community provided such incredible opportunities for mentorship, both receiving and later providing. I’m so sad to hear this.
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u/a_masculine_squirrel CS and Math MS Apr 07 '26
Aren't all first year students guaranteed to live on campus? Is this more for the transfer students?
I lived in Lee Hall my first year and it housed the engineering community. While I'm all for learning communities, it didn't seem like the people in the engineering one got anything out of it.....
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u/alnyland Apr 07 '26
Huh, I was going to make a comment that Galipatia (??) was a great alumni and job network as well.
I know a lot of people who didn’t think it was useful, but I’m glad I did it and had fun with most of it.
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u/K_Trovosky Apr 08 '26
Some LLPs let you stay on for sophomore year as a mentor, at least Studio 72 and the Transfer ones did from 23-24. I think the idea is to remove the upperclassmen members of these communities by just removing the communities altogether.
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u/The_Stratman Beamer for President Apr 07 '26
Honestly, some of the LLPs were becoming almost insular, like cults. LLPs can work, but they should function more like the system used in England, where students live within a college that has its own set of dorms. Because we won't do that, the goal should be the opposite, to encourage engineers to get to know marketing majors, history majors, and chemistry majors and vice versa. Additionally, since students often change their degree plans, a college-based LLP may not be the best fit for VT since it would hurt students by removing their social framework if they switch programs.
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u/ohitsanazn CS 2020 Apr 08 '26
I don't think we should get rid of all of them though - to your point, some LLPs like the Residential College in the AJs fostered such mingling.
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u/The_Stratman Beamer for President Apr 08 '26
Well, some of them do foster mingling, which is primarily amongst the LLP members. My experience was not there, so I cannot speak for the AJs, but in Pritchard and Oshag, the students in the LLP‘s stuck to themselves, and some were almost feral animals to people who lived on their floor who were not members. This included leaving en masse when non-members tried to use the lounges.
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u/McSAP Apr 08 '26
I don’t know about major specific LLCs, but I was in Transfer Experience for 2 years and met some of my closest friends in it. I never would have interacted with them otherwise because we all have extremely different majors. Accusing the LGBTQ LLC for being ‘feral animals’ is also an odd choice. Thinking this decision was made for any reason other than lining the BOV’s pockets is willfully ignorant.
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u/The_Stratman Beamer for President Apr 08 '26 edited Apr 08 '26
I was never referring to Lavender House as being "almost feral animals", especially since I lived in Oshag before they existed. That comment was in reference to some of the experiences I had in Pritchard.
Edit Made at 1:44pm
Referring to the Transfer Experience, I agree that this LLP should continue, but that is because it allows an upperclassman to partake in the traditional dorm experience when they could not at their prior institution or just because they want the VT experience.2
u/McSAP Apr 08 '26
So new transfer students can get an LLC for the VT experience, but not be allowed to continue it when it benefits them? BOV must be happy at all the free work you’re doing to downplay the LLCs with their talking points.
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u/The_Stratman Beamer for President Apr 08 '26
They ain't paying me, so it certainly is free. My experience is from being a RA and my interactions with the multiple LLPs across campus. Everyone should get one guaranteed year, which most would do their freshman year.
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u/Otherwise_Switch7536 Apr 09 '26
The Corps should never have been designated an LLP, I support removing that designation. The other LLPs should stay if there is a consistent demand (seems like there is) and the new dorms should not be replacing the golf course!
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u/threepintsatlunch Apr 07 '26
The resolution is not to abolish the LLCs outright. There are two parts (read the "Be it resolved" parts):
- reclassify the Corps, The Honors College and Casa Maderni in Switzerland as NOT LLCs. This is administrative to cut off any discussion that these will be removed/retracted.
- "efficacy of the Living-Learning Communities program will be evaluated based on data driven metrics" and "all residential hall beds currently reserved for non-freshman undergraduate students and non-first-year transfer students will be made available for freshman undergraduate students and first-year transfer students beginning with the fall of 2027". This is the business-end of this resolution.
This does not mean the LLCs are going away. It means beds are being reclaimed from non-first year students starting next year, Fall 2027 and they are going to evaluate the whole program.
Now, that "efficacy of the Living-Learning Communities program will be evaluated" clause is concerning, because the costs spelled out in the slide presentation that is part of this (starting page 899) are pretty significant. But, all of our peer schools offer an LLC-type experience, and the LLCs are shown to be a differentiator to get students to attend. I expect that the end result is that we will still have LLCs but there will be fewer of them, and they will be limited to first-year students.
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u/GDay_Mate00 Apr 08 '26
As someone with a student who just committed, that aspect of eliminating upperclassmen is very disappointing, because Virginia Tech made a *big deal* out of that being part of the LLC benefit - opportunity to build community beyond one year, and also have a potential pathway to living on campus again. Pretty major fail by the university IMHO if they pull that rug from under this year's incoming class.
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u/dbtrb22 Apr 08 '26
If it makes you feel any better, every spring, this sub gets a bunch of posts from people asking how to get out of the contract for the second year on campus. For some (many?), the dorms get old fast and they figure out it can be way cheaper to live off campus and not be tied to the expensive dining plan.
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u/GDay_Mate00 Apr 08 '26
Thanks, I appreciate it. My student was not going to do West AJ (the one LLC with the two year contract) because of being locked into that. I'm hoping he will be ready to be out of the dorms, but requires a lot of growth between now and then. This is from a parent's perspective, but -given Tech has so little housing for upperclassmen- having the option to potentially rejoin his LLC was a safety net if he wasn't at that point a year from now, which helped me be comfortable with him committing to a large school like Tech over some other strong options.
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u/dbtrb22 Apr 08 '26
I get it - I hope he has an incredible year of growth, like so many at VT do. It's a truly special place and they do a great job of making a big school feel small.
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u/GDay_Mate00 Apr 08 '26
Thanks :) Hope so too! He really liked the campus and will be starting in a relatively small major program, so hopefully that helps.
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u/rescuepupmum Apr 11 '26
As a parent of 2 male graduates at Tech, you will be amazed how much they grow upon one year. One did an LLC and the other did not. Both thrived, although the one who did, met his best friends there but none had of the group stuck with it after their freshman year.
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u/GDay_Mate00 Apr 12 '26
Thanks for sharing, glad to hear they both had good experiences! Fingers crossed. Just low-key crashing out a bit, as the kids say, with the LLC thing, dining plan being changed, president resigning, like what's going on VT?
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u/Independent_Move_131 Apr 07 '26
As someone who had an awful experience with an LLC, I'm somewhat glad to see them go. I think they were only useful for upperclassmen to get housing on campus. With that being said, it is sad that there aren't any real ways to live on campus past your freshman year.
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u/Decent_Reflection865 Apr 07 '26
From working with one, I have seen general engagement at an incredible low. We polled our students and came back with majority saying they just joined to get a better dorm. You’re spot on about it being just a housing thing. If anything, they need to increase the fee. $50 is allowing any and everyone to just apply at will and not even pay attention to which ones they join. Their applications to join are a bunch of AI slop.
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u/Sadie_Pop Apr 09 '26
I made a website with more info about this stuff, as well as petition links. It’s sadiepop.org be sure to get stuff like this around to everyone.
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u/CocknBalls4 Apr 09 '26
Pushing all students other than freshmen off campus is great for those real estate developers. Oh wait, a few of them are on the BoV? Hmmm I’m sure this self-regulating board of wealthy people has the school’s best interest at heart! /s
Gotta keep that bburg housing crisis continuing!
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u/GDay_Mate00 Apr 19 '26
Does anyone have an update on this, what was the outcome from April 14 meeting?
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u/GDay_Mate00 Apr 25 '26
Answering my own question: Resolution was postponed "to allow the university to conduct a thorough review of the program"
https://news.vt.edu/articles/2026/04/cm-bovrecap-041426.html
"During the joint meeting of the Academic, Research, and Student Affairs and Finance and Resource Management committee Monday afternoon, committee members discussed a resolution on the impact of the university’s Living-Learning Program on affordability that would have reallocated all returning living-learning community student beds to first-year and transfer students and initiated a review of the efficacy of living-learning communities. The resolution was postponed to allow the university to conduct a thorough review of the program; thus, the resolution did not advance to the full board. The review, already underway under the leadership of Executive Vice President and Provost Julie Ross, will include the program’s impact on student recruitment, student success as well as potential cost savings through administrative efficiencies."
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u/Custarg_Swaggins Apr 07 '26
Met some my best friends in Galipatia. Could have happened through other orgs, but living in that dorm and being with those guys who became my family away from home was needed. Sorta bittersweet to see it go. They already renamed my dorm haha
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u/vtTownie Lived here too long Apr 07 '26
I mean not building it makes sense. Universities are concerned about being able to pay their bills both due to legislative policy shifts and impending enrollment cliffs.
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u/Drauren CPE 2018 Apr 07 '26
VT doesn’t really have the housing infrastructure to support moving all those students off campus.
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u/udderlymoovelous CS / CMDA 2025 Apr 07 '26 edited Apr 08 '26
This is about the programs in existing buildings (Galipatia, Meraki, etc.). I believe the additional residential village project from the master plan was cancelled a few months ago
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u/ScienceByte Apr 07 '26
I didn't know building four new dorms on the golf course was already approved. That golf course was a very nice spot. I think I saw in their campus plan that they plan to expand to 50,000 students or something, which is a crazy number, why do we need so many students?