Dining options can also be limited. Communal meals are vegetarian and all other residential dining halls are off-limits.

“We feel disconnected from Harvard sometimes,” says Robin R. Kachka ’05, complaining that Co-op houses were excluded from door-drops of The Crimson, as well as other publications.

The application process to get in to the Dudley Co-op may also seem daunting. Students must apply to be put on the waiting list for the Co-op and gain a spot only when another student leaves.

But the Co-op does has a high turnover rate, with about 10 students leaving at the start of this semester, as students graduate or move on to off-campus or alternative on-campus housing.

Before being accepted, applicants are interviewed by current residents of the Co-op. Rather than an elimination process, the interview is a way for potential members to better understand Co-op life and to get to know students already in the Co-op.

“The importance of the interview is to know what you’re in for,” Dingman says.

Because residents must choose to join the Co-op, members genuinely want to participate and help contribute to its community atmosphere.

“It is a much stronger community [than other houses],” says Sarah K. Howard ’07. “It’s not for everyone but if you’re really interested in communal living and a more intense experience it is an opportunity to be a bigger part of the decision-making.”

The community atmosphere has allowed for the development of some unique traditions including “Thanksoween”­­—an event celebrating Thanksgiving and Halloween complete with “tofurkey,” a tofu turkey.

While mostly Co-op members participate in Co-op traditions, affiliates of Dudley House are also invited.

As Dingman says, “the Co-op is like the Statue of Liberty—it’s very welcoming.”

THE BIG PICTURE: DUDLEY HOUSE

The Dudley Co-op is part of the larger Dudley House community, which ensures that Co-op and off-campus students stay connected to the Harvard community.

Located in the corner of Harvard Yard, Dudley House provides a physical meeting place for students complete with a game room, library, and the popular Café Gato Rojo.

From taking time off to wanting to live at home, a variety of reasons have led undergraduates to affiliate themselves with Dudley.