UC Berkeley’s co-op called Person of Color Theme House bans white guests from common areas

An off-campus co-op for students at the University of California, Berkeley called the Person of Color Theme House has banned white guests from entering common areas of the house, it has been reported. 

A post on Reddit showed a picture of the house rules, which began by saying ‘many POC moved here to be able to avoid white violence and presence, so respect their decision of avoidance if you bring white guests.’ 

While the house aims to have an ‘inclusive’ environment according to it’s website, the house rules specifically state ‘White guests are not allowed in common spaces.’ 

The house, which is located close to Berkeley’s campus, is a five-story, 30-room home that can accommodate up to 56 students.

The co-op’s website says it ‘aims to provide housing to low-income, first generation, immigrant and marginalized students of color.’

The house was created as part of the Berkeley Student Cooperative, a program designed to bring affordable housing to students in California’s Bay-area.

The house rules also state members should ‘avoid bringing parents/family members that express bigotry,’ because ‘Queer, Black, and Indigenous members should not have to avoid common spaces because of homophobic or racist parents/family members.’

Despite the rules, there have been many who claim the house is not upholding its values.

One commenter on a Reddit post about experiences at the house said they were mixed race and their ‘presence as a light skinned person was not received well.’

They said house members called them slurs and they were even ‘not allowed to let my dad enter the house because he’s white.’ 

Janet Gilmore, Senior Director of Strategic Communications at the University told DailyMail.com the house is ‘not campus operated,’ meaning ‘it is not the role of the campus to comment.’

Gilmore also said the University does have it’s own Theme Programs, but they have ‘no such policies like the one alleged in the Reddit image,’ and stated ‘Cal Housing Theme Programs do not discriminate on the basis of race, consistent with UC and campus policy.’ 

 ‘As this involves an off-campus non-affiliated landlord, the campus has no ability under the Code of Student Conduct to discipline the landlord.’

Even the antidiscrimination rules spouted by the Berkeley Student Cooperative, who run the house, seem to contradict the house’s discriminatory rules.

Under BSC’s antidiscrimination policy, ‘acts are prohibited if they discriminate against any BSC community members’ on the basis of qualities such as age, gender and sexual orientation.

Stephen Ross, cooperative experience manager for the Berkeley Student Cooperative, told The Fix that the house’s rules are not ‘official policy.’ 

‘White people can and do live in POC house, but the focus for POC house is providing a safe and supportive living environment for people of color,’ said Ross. 

But Ross also said the Person of Color Theme House has it’s ‘own culture and practices,’ and the focus of the house is to provide ‘a safe and supportive living environment for people of color.’

He said house members purposefully work towards ‘not making Whiteness central to the experience for members living in the house,’ because some members have been traumatized by the ‘white violence’ mentioned in the rules.

Ross defines this as being negatively impacted by things such as ‘racist and discriminatory remarks made by former President Trump’ and ‘daily experiences of covert and overt racism.’

He added he hopes the house can provide members with a ‘safe space’ where they can ‘process their experiences and feel supported.’

Houses in the Berkeley Student Cooperative are run by private landlords, meaning the University often feels they don’t need to comment on what they do. 

A 2020 Medium article stated the house has ‘become notorious for its reputation of anti-Blackness’ and ‘upholding white supremacy.’