Non-academic Living Learning Communities will be shut down starting next academic year.
Catherine LaRoche, the executive director for housing and residence life, said the closure of non-academic LLCs, such as the Stonewall LLC, is part of the university’s compliance with House Bill 4, which disallows Kentucky’s public universities from providing differences in treatment or benefits based on “religion, race, sex, color or national origin.”
“In compliance with House Bill 4, living learning community selection is limited to academic cohorts beginning next academic year,” LaRoche said in an email to the Herald.
Academic cohorts are LLCs centered around a major offered at WKU.
LLCs help connect students socially through similar academic or social interests, according to the WKU LLC website. The 2025 academic year offered LLCs for LGBTQ+ students, students in the same major, leadership and first-generation students, among others.
The Stonewall LLC, which is designated for LGBTQ+ students, was established in 2016. It provides gender neutral housing and a space to “promote social integration and change” for students, according to the Stonewall webpage. The webpage has now been removed from WKU’s website.
Dean of Students Martha Sales did not respond to either of two emails from the Herald sent on Oct. 14 and Oct. 16 before publication.
The University of Kentucky has taken similar action with the discontinuation of its gender-inclusive housing. Students were told it was not an option to reapply, raising concern among the transgender and non-binary students at the university, according to the Kentucky Kernel.
