Communal Living and College?

I'm a bit new to the whole idea, so I'm curious. Are there any communes where some of the members go to college as well? I would think it would be a more positive learning environment for students and I was wondering if they existed or does it go against the philosophy of it?

 

If you are part of a commune that tells you that you cannot go to college, get the fuck out of it ASAP. No commune I know of has such a rule as nearly all of them support self-growth.

 

Thank you. I'm not sure if the commune life is for me, but I do want to keep the option open.

 

I think it's a great thing to get into, if only for a few months. Personally, I say 6-12 months is ideal. If you like it, stay. If not, you've been there long enough to decide if you like it or not so you can pull out saying it's just your cup of tea.

It really is a good idea though, for both educational and spiritual growth. If I were young again, I would hang at a few different communes. One in particular is over by Eskdale Utah. Good group, now it's not what I like, but if I was younger, I think it would have been great. Another over by Manitou Springs Colorado, I forget the name of it ("Twelve Tribes", I think?) would have been good. Now I'm 41 years old and set in my ways. Not good for a commune.

 

FWIW, our community usually has a couple of people going to various SF Bay area colleges at any given time - right now there are two or three college students at the Lafayette Morehouse. There is no one at my house, the Oakland Morehouse, in college right now - for a while I was taking courses at Berkeley City College at night.

I suspect that in a lot of situations, its just how far the group is located from a college. Here in the bay area there are a ton of schools.

For me, going to college in Boston was my first experience in communal living - I lived in a fraternity with 28 other guys. Nowadays there are lots of co-ops and various forms of group living on many campuses, not to mention there is the ever-popular "let's rent a 4/5/6 bedroom place and fill with with our friends."

 

A couple of friends of mine are about to try the 4 bedroom apartment situation. It's reasonably priced. Sororities tend to worry me with the hype of hazing and expenses. I was considering communal living because of the mental and spiritual growth atmosphere. Bard College was a place I was looking at because it is a liberal arts college that kind of has the same vibe. Limited majors and a bit expensive though. Family is an issue too. I don't know exactly how to bring it up to them that I was considering communal living, especially with an orthodox semi-Christian background.