A new on-campus living-learning community where Spanish is the primary language will open its doors at Michigan State University in Fall 2025. Led and developed entirely by a team of MSU students from the Department of Romance and Classical Studies, this living-learning community, named La Casa, is open to all undergraduate students who are interested in Spanish language and cultures.
La Casa will be located on an entire floor in Shaw Hall where there is room for 60 residents. Dedicated to advancing Spanish language learning and fostering interdisciplinary engagement, this living-learning community will feature an immersive Spanish-speaking living space with student-led and focused cultural activities.
“La Casa is open to anyone with an interest in Spanish – and anybody can be a Spanish speaker or have interest in it,” said Korey Deans, a member of the La Casa student board. “What we’re really trying to do is create a community that is supportive of one another, where we can all come together, bring our different skills and backgrounds, and help each other grow, learn, and have fun.”
Though the name echoes a former MSU housing program from the early 2000s that was phased out, the new La Casa is being completely reimagined by a passionate team of student leaders who are committed to building something fresh, inclusive, and enduring. While the current La Casa student board acknowledges the history, their work is less about reviving an old program and more about creating something new.
The La Casa student board, which has been working on the project since June 2024, includes Abby Cooper, a double major in Spanish and Social Relations and Policy; Korey Deans, a double major in Spanish and Human Resources; Ana Dunfee, a double major in Spanish and International Relations; and Karissa Zárate, a Spanish major. The group is supervised by Jennifer Gansler, Faculty Advisor and Senior Academic Specialist in the Department of Romance and Classical Studies.
An inclusive and immersive space
With a mission that’s focused on inclusivity, La Casa welcomes students from all majors and backgrounds, from native Spanish speakers to those just beginning their language-learning journey. One reason for this is the board’s belief in dispelling the notion of a single story about what it means to be a Spanish speaker.
When La Casa opens its doors in fall 2025, residents can expect a dynamic and supportive environment led by a team of student leaders who are dedicated to creating a welcoming environment that celebrates language and cultural diversity. The living space is designed to encourage immersive language use to deepen Spanish-speaking skills, with Spanish spoken in hallways, common areas, and during organized events.
“The goal is to have an immersive as possible community,” Cooper said. “When you walk down the hall, you’ll hear people speaking Spanish. But we also want people of different levels to be involved in La Casa.”
One of the challenges of creating a Spanish-speaking living-learning community that’s open to everyone is what to do when students are at vastly different levels of proficiency. To preempt this issue, the board is implementing a proficiency-based matching program to combat possible ability gaps. This program will have students fill out a questionnaire, listing their strengths and weaknesses in the four major categories of language proficiency: reading, writing, listening, and speaking.
“We’ll have someone who has a high writing proficiency, but a low oral proficiency, work with someone who’s the opposite,” Dean said. “We also recognize some people might have low oral proficiencies coming into La Casa, so we want people using Spanish in general as much as possible, but that can look different than just speaking.”
The board hopes La Casa will challenge the traditional silos of Spanish speakers. For instance, students who have learned Spanish academically don’t always interact with native speakers.
“We hope part of the impact of bringing people together from different perspectives and different places is that people will share their culture,” Cooper said, “and people will be able to appreciate some of those differences that they wouldn’t otherwise have been exposed to.”
Student-led effort
La Casa is a student-led living-learning community at MSU, and as students themselves, board members possess a unique perspective on the needs and interests of the student body with their primary focus over the past six months being on the students who will inhabit this living-learning community.
“We’re this voice for the students who will actually live in this space, rather than professors or advisors,” Dean said. “We can say ‘this is what students want’ and it bears more weight.”
La Casa’s student-led framework has allowed each board member to contribute their unique perspective. The team has embraced the challenge of designing a space that is not only functional but also reflective of the diverse interests and experiences of its future residents. From drafting a mission statement to planning events and organizing the marketing, the student board is responsible for every aspect of La Casa’s growth and development.
For Cooper, this level of autonomy has been a transformative experience.
“This is a pretty unique position for a student to have, where I’m actually working on developing and creating something from scratch,” she said. “It has been a really unique experience to be able to see how that works. And I think it’s very valuable going forward in my career.”
Dunfee, the youngest member of the board, saw the project as a way to immerse herself in campus life and contribute to something meaningful her first year at MSU.
“I was looking for more ways to get involved in campus freshman year,” she said, “and this just seemed like a really interesting and unique opportunity.”
Bringing La Casa to the residential community system
The La Casa community has worked closely with advisors in the College of Arts and Letters, along with staff in Residence Education and Housing Services, to propose and build the community for the Fall 2025 incoming class.
“We’re pleased to provide specialized housing options for our students in partnership with academic programs and support services,” said Christopher Stone-Sewalish, associate director for business operations in Residence Education and Housing Services. “We appreciate the work the La Casa student board has done to propose and create a sustainable, appealing living-learning community.”
MSU is home to three degree-granting residential colleges and a network of learning communities and support programs rooted in the expertise of academic departments and support units.
“Our goal is to create the spaces and environments where experts can thrive as they support resident interests, bring intentional learning beyond the classroom, and help students achieve academic and personal goals,” Stone-Sewalish said. “We value the student involvement across communities, knowing our academic partners in all communities work hard to ensure they’re engaging student voice in the creation and management of the communities.”
Looking to the future
As the opening date approaches, the team is already thinking about La Casa’s future. A key focus is ensuring the program’s sustainability by recruiting new student leaders and establishing a strong foundation for ongoing success. They also have increased their outreach efforts to include classroom presentations in addition to campus events and collaborations with professors. The goal is to raise awareness and attract a diverse group of residents for La Casa’s first cohort.
This story originally appeared on the College of Arts and Letters website.
