Santa Clara University

Choosing a Residential Learning Community

All new students should submit RLC preferences, whether or not they will live on campus. Students accepted to the University Honors Program should indicate preferences among the Alpha, da Vinci, Loyola, and Modern Perspectives RLCs.

Each community has a broad theme, but the themes aren’t connected to any particular major. You will take some classes with other students in your RLC, which may be connected to the RLC theme. Most of these courses fulfill requirements that all Santa Clara students need to satisfy. And you will never be excluded from any course because of your RLC choice.

Life in an RLC helps you make a smooth transition from high school to college and plugs you into college life right away. We encourage all freshmen to live on campus, but RLCs are a great way to connect as a commuter student, too.

Connecting as a commuter student

If you live off campus, you will be a member of an RLC and enjoy the benefits of community life. You will have access to the residence hall that houses your community, take courses with other community members, and participate in RLC activities. If you do plan to commute, complete only the first part of the RLC/Housing Preference form.

 
Residential Learning Communities

Alpha RLC

• Understanding the modern world through the lens of Western culture
• Santa Clara’s longest-running RLC

Alpha is committed to understanding the benefits and challenges of Western culture, and to investigating the modern world through visual and practicing arts, literature, philosophy, history, and writing. Alpha students seek to develop community and to meet the needs of each individual by focusing on the ideals of compassion, excellence, wisdom, and honor.

Communitas RLC

• Individualism, community, and citizenship
• A commitment to local action with compassion

Communitas is Latin for “community” or “a sense of fellowship.” This RLC explores the role of the individual as a member of a group and the tension between individual rights and responsibility to group goals. Communitas offers opportunities for community-based learning and for exploring local ways to make a difference.

CyPhi RLC

• Sustainability, justice, and the environment
• Inspired by creativity and artistic expression

The newest RLC at SCU, CyPhi was created by the merger of two communities, Cypress and Delphi. The name of the first calls to mind the image of California's rare and beautiful Monterey Cypress to express the environmental hopes and challenges we face. The second was named after Delphi in Greece, famous for the temple dedicated to Apollo, god of Reason and the Arts, and the Oracle, where people came to find a vision for their lives.

da Vinci RLC

• Inspired by the broad interests of Leonardo da Vinci
• Focusing on science and celebrating Italian heritage and culture

Students in da Vinci are connected by a common thread of interest in the natural world, as well as all things Italian. da Vinci is a four-year RLC and students are encouraged to stay together throughout their four years at Santa Clara.

Loyola RLC

• Faith, social justice, and the exploration of your place in the world
• Four-year community that brings together students of all faith traditions

Designed to educate the whole person in the Jesuit tradition, Loyola offers an innovative program integrating courses, community-based learning, and the role of religion and spirituality in modern life. Loyola students have a wide range of opportunities to explore their role in our world as well as the place of faith and justice.

Modern Perspectives RLC

• Student-directed toward leadership, vision, and action
• Engaging the 21st century in the Ignatian tradition

Modern Perspectives brings together students of diverse backgrounds who want to join a community marked by a range of exciting intellectual and recreational activities. Their interest in social issues and world events focuses them on the possibilities for leadership locally and globally, now and in the future.

Unity RLC

• Understanding and appreciating diversity
• Social and civic engagement

Unity is a four-year RLC whose theme is grounded in one of the University’s fundamental values, to cherish our diverse community and the roots that sustain it. Students with different backgrounds and academic interests join to understand the role diversity plays as a catalyst for social change and engagement, as well as to appreciate its historical importance.

Xavier RLC

• International issues and global solidarity
• Integration of faith and justice

Xavier students recognize the global reality of today’s world and see their community as a place where students interested in global issues come together to better understand that world. Xavier is an RLC for those who want to make a difference and who want to participate in the Jesuit tradition of the integration of faith and justice.