Berkeley Student Cooperative :: Communities Directory

Formed: 1933 Established: 1933

This page last updated:2/22/2012

Berkeley Student Cooperative

Berkeley, California,

United States

Founded in 1933, the Berkeley Student Cooperative (BSC) is the largest student housing cooperative in North America, housing over 1,200 people. Although a private nonprofit corporation, the BSC works in cooperation with the University of California to provide housing for its students. The mission of the Berkeley Student Cooperative is to provide a quality, low-cost, cooperative housing community to university students, thereby providing an educational opportunity for students who might not otherwise be able to afford a university education. Membership is generally limited to full time students.

About 900 of the BSC's members live in room-and-board houses scattered around the Berkeley campus, including 17 large houses that each function as a separate cooperative household with elected managers for room assignment, work organization (housekeeping, food service, etc.), and maintenance. Our Board of Directors is made up of students elected by each of our houses. A central support staff of about 25 nonmembers provides technical information to members as well as oversees day-to-day administration (such as housekeeping applications and organizational financing). We also provide warehousing and support services to individual house food programs.

Communities within the BSC include Andres Castro Arms, African American Theme House, Casa Zimbabwe, Cloyne Court, The Convent, Davis, Euclid, Hillegass-Parker House, Hoyt (Women only), Kidd, Kingman, Lothlorien (vegetarian), Ridge, Sherman (women only), Stebbins, Wilde (LGBTQIA & Queer), Wolf, Fenwick, Rochdale, and Northside.

The BSC also maintains an Alumni Association for former members to stay in touch and support the cooperative's mission. www.bscaa.org

Website: http://bsc.coop/

Contact:

2424 Ridge Rd
Berkeley, California 94709-1212 United States
Phone: 510-848-1936

Links:

http://www.bsc.coop

Community location is placed at the center of the zip/postal code, city/state, or city/country (not based on street addresses)

Orientation Video

See Video full size

Former/Other Names: University Students Cooperative Association, USCA

This page last updated:2/22/2012

Visitor Process: Tours for prospective members are available, please contact housing@bsc.coop

Affiliations: North American Students of Cooperation

Statement of Housing Non-discrimination:

Our community does not discriminate in regards to housing based on race/color, national origin, religion, sex/gender, family status (i.e. having children, not having children, or being pregnant), disability, marital status, sexual orientation, ancestry, source of income, age, creed, personal appearance, political affiliation, HIV infection, military/veteran status, unfavorable military discharge, gender identity or expression, receiving public assistance, or being the victim of domestic abuse.

Comment: Members generally need to be full time students at a college or university.

Population Members(adults and children): 1250 Non-member Residents: 0 Open to new members: Yes (must meet our student status requirements)	Government Decision Making: By majority rule (Each of the 20 communities has a house council, and also elects representatives to the central level board of directors) Identified Leader: Yes Leadership Core Group: Yes	Labor and Money Financial Style: Members have independent finances (A small number of scholarships is available.) Open to Members with Pre-existing Debt: Yes Labor Contribution: Expected (each person works 5 hours per week.) Join Fee: Yes ($50) Regular Fees: No
Land and Buildings Urban Land Owned By: Other (Community owns some buildings, leases others) Number of Residences: 20 Cohousing: No	Food, etc. Percentage of Food Grown: none Share Community Meals: Nearly all dinners Dietary Choice or Restrictions: (One of the houses is vegetarian) Dietary Practice: Omnivorous Alcohol Use: Seldom used Tobacco Use: Seldom used	Social Factors Common Spiritual Practices: No

Click an image to see it full size.

Become an Editor Current editor(s): betsyputnam, communications

Comments from Directory Readers This community selects which reader comments to display (more info). You can add yours below.

There are no Reader Comments on this community.

Add Your Comment on Berkeley Student Cooperative

We encourage comments from those who have first hand experience with a community so that others may benefit from your experience. Please share information you think will be useful to other users of this site, in a clear, concise, and polite manner. Each community can choose to display all comments, display selected comments, or not to display comments (more info). Communities will be shown email addresses of those who comment so that they might communicate with you if they choose.

We reserve the right to edit or delete any comment.

You must be logged in to add a comment. Login here or if you have not yet registered on our site Register here.

More Info on Display Options

Communities can choose one of three options for how reader comments are displayed.