Under a section labeled "Guests in Common Spaces," the rules for the Person of Color Theme House, an off-campus housing option for UC Berkeley students, state: "White guests are not allowed in common spaces (see intro)."
The intro for the POC Theme House suggests that many students moved in "to be able to avoid white violence and presence." The rules continue, outlining that if a student does bring a guest, they should announce it to the house chatroom and note "if they are white."
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The POC Theme House is part of the Berkeley Student Cooperative (BSC), which was established to provide cheap housing to Bay-area college students.
But it’s not just white guests who are unwelcome. “Avoid bringing parents/family members that express bigotry,” the rules continue. “Queer, Black, and Indigenous members should not have to avoid common spaces because of homophobic or racist parents/family members.”
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Since its commencement, the house has suffered many internal issues. Former resident Manduhai Baatar wrote on Medium that the house is "known for its call-out culture, in which members are often criticized for their actions [for not] pursuing restorative justice.
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"Several members have been criticized for being white/white passing, aligning themselves with whiteness, or allowing white violence in the house," Baatar added.
However, Stephen Ross, the cooperative experience manager for the BSC, said that "neither the BSC nor the POC House has an official policy" excluding white visitors from common areas.
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"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," Ross says.
Adam Ratliff, assistant director of Media Relations for UC Berkeley, said that because a private landlord runs the BSC, it is "not the role of the campus" to comment on how the co-op operates. "As this involves an off-campus, non-affiliated landlord, the campus has no ability under the Code of Student Conduct to discipline the landlord," Ratliff added.
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The BSC's official anti-discrimination policy states that its residential facilities may not be limited on the basis of "age, color, disability, gender, height, marital status, national origin, political persuasion, race, religion, sexual orientation, veteran status or weight." The BSC offers other themed houses, including an African American Theme House and an LGBTQIA+ & Queer themed house.
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