About

Located on Quincy Street in Hancock, the Koskela Servant Leadership House offers its residents the perks of living on-campus, such as maintenance and a short walking distance to classes. Residents of the KSLH are required to participate in volunteering activities each school year, along with house requirements. These requirements include weekly house meetings and making sure the house stays clean and tidy. The house also picks a topic each year which everyone will participate in to learn more and help share what they have learned.

New residents are admitted through an application process each spring. See more below.

Applications

Since the house is an on-campus housing option, students must apply to be accepted into the house. Students who are interested in applying may submit their application in the spring months of each school year. Applicants must be at least a freshman with a total of 24 credits by the end of the academic year and be in good academic standing. Once accepted into the house there are no further applications needed for future years; available spots in the house fluctuate each year depending on how many students are graduating.

Applicants will have a tour of the house prior to being accepted to see the space and to meet the current residents. Once accepted, applicants will have an end-of-the-year meal with current residents and the Head of the House as a formal meeting/ going away meal for the senior(s).

Female students with at least a 3.0 GPA are invited to apply to live in the Koskela Servant Leadership House for the upcoming school year. The deadline for applications is April 1 each Spring semester.

Apply here

Furnishings

Each bedroom comes furnished with a bed frame and a mattress, along with a desk, chair and dresser for each resident in the room. The first-floor bedroom comes with two clothing racks, due to there not being a closet. The living room, dining room and kitchen come fully furnished thanks to gracious donations of furniture and funds over the years. Students are required to bring their own bedding and are allowed their own appliances (e.i Keurig, mini fridge, air fryer).

Since the house does come with in-house laundry there are no extra costs for that, students do have to provide their own detergent and other washing needs.

Parking

Students in the house have their own parking lot located behind the house. They must register their cars with the school’s security to receive a tag. Snow removal for the lot is handled by maintenance on most days, but may need shoveled by hand on weekends.

History

The Koskela Servant Leadership House was founded in 2013 by Rene Johnson and was made possible by multiple donors, many volunteers, the support of the community and a NetVUE (Network for Vocation in Undergraduate Education) grant. As part of her internship and Diploma Works, Gina Paulson developed the house’s renovation design and contributed multiple hours of volunteering.  Over the course of the summer of 2014, the house was renovated and its first cohorts moved in during the fall semester that year. The house was completely renovated in the summer of 2015 after the last bedroom was finished.

In the following years, modern kitchen shelving was installed and built by Gary and Jean Terrio during the summer of 2016. In 2017, the kitchen windows were replaced by Gloria Dei Luthern church and in 2019 the house had the rest of its windows replaced by generous donors. In 2019 the house was officially dedicated as the Koskela Servant Leadership House in honor of financial support from the Koskela grandchildren, Jim (and Phyllis) Norton and Rev. Myron (and Florence) Grams.