Welcome / Where You'll Live

A LOT OF WHAT YOU LEARN in college happens outside the classroom. Because we believe valuable life lessons come from living in community, we’re a residential campus. That means you’re required to live in a residence hall or other campus housing. Whether you choose to live in a hall, a small living unit (SLU), or pledge a fraternity (sororities are non-residential), you’ll meet new friends and gain an appreciation for other cultures. You’ll also begin to make the decisions that go along with living away from home. If you need some help, Residential Life’s professional staff and student assistants will work with you to solve problems, deal with personal issues, and refer you to additional assistance if necessary.

Except for Hayes Hall, which is for women only, all Ohio Wesleyan residence halls are co-ed, separated by suite, room, or floor. Other halls include Welch Hall (honors); Smith Hall East and West (Smith West is wellness/substance-free); Stuyvesant Hall, which houses the 7,000-square-foot Wellness Center; Thomson Hall; and Bashford Hall. As a first-year student you’ll live with other first-years in a suite or room, but among upper-class students, unless you’re part of our YearOne Program. YearOne students live in a wellness/substance-free community in Bashford and Thomson Halls. All OWU residence halls are smoke-free.

After a year in a residence hall, you might choose to live in a SLU—a small living unit whose members share a specific interest and a house. This year’s SLUs include:

• The Citizens of the World House
• The Creative Arts House
• The House of Black Culture
• The House of Thought
• The Inter-Faith House
• The Modern Foreign Language House
• The Peace and Justice House
• The Tree House
• The Women’s House

Upperclass students have the opportunity for a unique intergenerational living experience at Austin Manor, where you’ll share an apartment with friends, and your neighbors may be alumni, faculty, retirees—or all three.

All residence halls and SLUs are within walking distance of campus and historic downtown Delaware, so you won’t really need a car. If you do need a car, you may bring one and purchase a parking permit.  Juniors and seniors may purchase permits to park in residential areas.  First-year and sophomore students may participate in a lottery for a limited number of residential parking spaces or you may purchase a permit for a periphery lot. You’ll have to register your car, and everyone with a car pays a yearly parking fee.

Residency Requirements and Room Assignments

It is expected that all full-time students will reside on campus.  Only those students who commute from their parent, guardian or spouse’s homes or who have been released in writing by the Residential Life Office may live off campus.  Students who plan to commute from home must live within a 30-mile radius of Ohio Wesleyan University campus.

An exception to the University housing policy may only be granted through written appeal.  Students released off campus must provide accurate contact information to the Residential Life Office as a condition of receiving permission to live off campus.  The following is a list of factors which may exempt a student from the University housing policy through the appeal process:

1. Age 23 or older
2. Living with legal guardian and/or immediate family – mother, father, brother, sister, husband, or wife.  If a student is approved to live off campus with an authorized family member, but is later found to be living elsewhere, the University will reinstate room and board charges and refer the student to the University judicial system.
3. On rare occasions, the University will approve a student to live off campus for medical or psychological reasons.  This process must be initiated by completing a request form in the Residential Life Office.  All information requested on the form must be provided to the review committee by the student.  The review committee is comprised of the Directors of the Student Health Center, Counseling Services, and Residential Life.  The decision of the above individuals is final.  Only one request per student, per semester, will be reviewed.
4. Married (must be documented).