The broad majority of Harvard students live in one of the twelve upperclassmen houses they were assigned to freshman year, but another housing option exists beyond this traditional structure, which some students call home, and others have never even heard of: The Dudley Co-op.
The Co-op is part of The Dudley Community, which is equivalent to a House in its academic resources, but far from it when it comes to lifestyle. With two physical houses situated between Harvard and Porter Squares—one on Massachusetts Avenue containing common spaces and the other on Sacramento Street containing living spaces—the Co-op houses around 32 undergraduates and two graduate student tutors, in addition to students living off-campus. Residents have chosen to disaffiliate from their assigned Houses to join what Cam Parsons Muniz ’25 calls an “intentional community.”
Early in his freshman year, Muniz met a few students who brought him to the Co-op, and he immediately liked the space and its people. After moving into the Co-op as soon as he could this fall, Muniz has learned that being an active member of the tight-knit community requires pitching in with cooking, cleaning, and other chores. “The expectation is if you’re benefiting from the community that you give back to it,” he said.
Members are held accountable through a points system. A chore like washing dishes counts for more points than bread baking, where the rewards come in the form of communal praise. “We have a weekly bread chore, where you do a baked good and then everyone comes down and enjoys what you’ve made,” Muniz explained.
The Co-op has fostered a progressive and inclusive group of people since its founding in 1958. This inclusivity is on show every day—Dudley’s meals are mostly vegan, attracting a high number of vegetarian and vegan students. Its student population has historically been predominantly queer. Ultimately, the Co-op welcomes those who desire a more independent style of living than traditional Harvard Houses allow, in which “it’s hard to give up having access to a kitchen 24/7,” Muniz said.
At the same time, it is deeply participatory. “I really love it here,” Muniz expressed. “I think this is a really beautiful community and a really interesting way to live and it’s worth experimenting with. I’m really sad that we’re the only option here at Harvard for this kind of living, because I think that there are many other ways to do something similar which I would like to experience.”
Awareness of Dudley mainly comes from word-of-mouth advertising; students will often visit the Co-op by chance and end up liking it. Recruitment suffered during the pandemic, when residents were unable to host public events and fewer people were living on or near campus. Currently, the Co-op is searching for new members, and those interested are free to join one of their daily dinners at 6:30 PM to talk to the residents or check out their website. If you are bored of regular dorm living, this may be the community for you.
Andrew Spielmann ’25 (andrewspielmann@college.harvard.edu) finds this very tempting.