Photo Courtesy of the Global LLC
By Shannon Barbour
Reporter
Next fall, North Russell Residence Hall will open its doors to both women and men who wish to live in the new Baylor and Beyond Living-Learning Center.
The Baylor and Beyond LLC will replace the Global Community LLC housed in Brooks Flats, and will require upper-level students who live in the Global Community LLC to move to North Russell.
The revamped residential hall will be separated into wings for women and men, just as Brooks Flats is.
“We decided to transform global community from being solely focused on all things international to more of a freshman specific hall, because North Russell is going to be 90 percent freshman and 10 percent upperclassmen,” Holly Joyner, program director, said.
This new program is focused towards freshman and students who are interested in the topics the LLC is devoted to: studying abroad, international students, different cultures, civic engagement and social justice issues.
“There’s a community of people who have similar interests right from the beginning and the program supports the interaction of that community,” said Jennifer Good, current faculty-in-residence at the Global LLC.
World cinema, international sports, global politics and events and languages are some of the focuses of Baylor and Beyond LLC.
“I’ve learned to have a global outlook on life, and to realize that there are people and cultures beyond where I’m at now, which is something that is said to you often, but you never quite understand it,” said McKinney sophomore Jasmine Moss, a Global LLC resident.
Joyner described the new LLC as suites divided into themed “neighborhoods.” Romantic languages will be one of the neighborhoods encompassing French, Italian, Portuguese and Spanish.
Joyner said Baylor and Beyond will focus on getting freshmen connected to Baylor and encouraging them to look beyond Baylor for their education and future.
“The beyond piece would be pushing our students to think about study abroad and different cultures,” Joyner said.
Because the new LLC will be located in North Russell, it will be cheaper than Brooks Flats for incoming freshmen, as well as the few upper-level students who choose to make the move and visiting international students.
While the new LLC still emphasizes global issues, it takes some of the focus away to concentrate on first-year experiences of freshmen.
In addition to the few upper-level students, the current faculty-in-residence, Good, will also follow the LLC to North Russell.
Good has been involved with the Global LLC since the beginning stages, where she helped propose having an LLC that focuses on different cultures and the community.
“As a language teacher, I know how important language and culture are, regardless of your major,” Good said.
To help students afford the new LLC, scholarships of up to $3,000 are available to students based on financial need and merit, such as fluency in specific languages and experience abroad.
“Because there’s an application process, it attracts those students that really want to be involved in it,” said Moss. “You have people signing up to participate and give back to their community, their Baylor community, their global community and the outside community outside of the Baylor Bubble.”
Baylor and Beyond will help freshmen and international students with the transition into college life and help connect them to the campus and opportunities abroad, Joyner said.
“We’re not leaving it behind. We’re taking it to a new place,” Good said.
