Chris Gottlieb, senior in Engineering, described himself as not very social when he first came to the University. After exploring the different housing options on campus, Gottlieb found his perfect match within Christian housing.

“I think if I were in the dorms, I probably would have spent most of my time in my room not communicating with people,” Gottlieb said. “By living in a house like this, it has forced me to be more social.”

While each Christian housing unit on campus is entirely different from one another, the 3:12 House, Koinonia, Stratford House and Sutton Place are cooperatives. A cooperative requires that residents eat together and are responsible for different cleaning duties in the house. Before living in Christian housing, potential residents are required to fill out an application and must then undergo an interview process.

“You don’t have to have a certain creed or be of a certain denomination to live in the houses,” Housing Minister Clint Wilson said. “But you have to be a person that is enthusiastic about living in a Christian house.”

Once accepted into any respective Christian house, residents have general rules to follow. Although rules for each house may be different, all of the houses are considered alcohol-free and members of the opposite sex are not allowed to sleep at another resident’s room.

Wilson said every house is “self-policing” and has problems rarely. He attributed this to the application process which residents must undergo.

From a financial standpoint, Wilson said Christian housing varies by house but is at least 25 percent cheaper than a residence hall.

For some students such as Keith Harris, freshman in Business, the marginal price variation would not be enough to encourage him to enroll in Christian housing. He added that he didn’t feel he would enjoy it as much as a standard residence hall.

“I don’t think that it would be as wild as the regular dorm,” he said. “It would probably be a little boring.”

Gottlieb admitted that some may think that the Christian housing atmosphere would be boring. However, he added that he and his fellow tenants are free to attend any events they choose to, and do participate in activities such as intramural sports together.

“You are free to do whatever you want,” Gottlieb said. “It’s not what you do, it’s the attitude that you approach it with.”