Living in Community

One of the most unique features of Warren Wilson is its strong campus community. Warren Wilson is a residential campus where 90% of students live on campus, which creates a vibrant residential experience.

Residence Life Staff

Your residence hall experience is guided and overseen by three levels of staff support, with Residence Assistants (RAs) living in your hall and working directly with you to create an environment that supports learning, openness, tolerance, respect, and individual responsibility. RA’s are backed-up by Area Coordinators and the Director of Residence Life to help handle administrative issues, facilities, mediation, and emergency response.

Can I Commute?

Warren Wilson is deliberately a residential community. Participating in the residential community on campus, while also working on campus, is a critical component to a WWC education. Students who live on campus have been shown to be more engaged in campus life, which contributes positively to their experience in college, identity development, and in most cases achieving a higher GPA. That’s why we require 3 years of campus residence and Work Program participation to graduate (with exceptions for transfer students).

Students who have yet to complete 90 credit hours or are under age 22 (including most First Year students) will be approved to live off-campus only when one of the following is true:

• Living with parents or guardians in the area
• Living with spouse or domestic partner
• Living with dependent child
• Financially independent as determined by the IRS

Living and Learning Communities

Living and Learning Communities at Warren Wilson College allow you to experience different cultures, learn new skills, and enjoy new ways of life. No matter where you are on the path to obtaining a degree, we have a Living and Learning Community for you!

Examples of Living and Learning Communities include:

• Alliance: This community is an intentional and supportive space of all gender and sexual identities. You will engage in honest dialogue about gender, gender identity, sexuality and interpersonal relationships as a means to self-awareness. Programming in this community is themed around supporting LGBTQIA+ students, such as pride rallies in Asheville, and Tranzmission service projects.
• Co-op: Students in the Co-op Living and Learning Community purposefully live off of the campus meal plan. Together with your peers you will shop for food, grow food in the garden, prepare and cook meals, and clean whilst receiving reimbursement checks from the college for your efforts. 
• EcoDorm: Is minimizing your environmental impact important to you? As an EcoDorm resident you will live in an eco-friendly building and make environmentally conscious decisions such as hanging your clothes to dry and letting your hair dry naturally, growing your own food in the vegetable garden, and cooking meals with your peers.
• Engage: The Engage Living and Learning Community fosters student advocacy for African, Latine, Indigenous, and Asian (ALIA) communities on campus, in the greater Asheville community, and across the country. As a first year mentee, you will build camaraderie with your peers and mentors. Mentees meet up with their mentors often for guidance and friendship, as well as join other folks on campus for celebrations each month.
• Gap Year and Transfer: Whether you are re-entering campus life at Warren Wilson or are transferring in from another institution, the Gap Year and Transfer Living and Learning Community provides community and a sense of belonging. As a resident of this community, you will be supported in understanding campus life in the context of your unique experience.
• Wellness: If you are a student engaged in a substance-free lifestyle and are looking for a safe space to continue sobriety, Wellness is the perfect community for you! Students in this community agree to not bring substances into the building and to not enter the hall while under the influence. Residents of this community come together to learn more about wellness topics such as physical wellness, emotional wellness, and the mind-body-spirit connection.
• Worldwide: The Worldwide Living and Learning Community provides space for domestic and international students to room and learn together. This intentional intercultural space allows for students to come together and share their cultures with one another.