Why do students play a central role in the running of ICU’s student dormitories?

All of ICU's student dormitories are located on campus. They are a place where students foster respect for human rights and diversity and learn to share responsibilities and duties through dialogue in a communal living. This is why the students themselves are responsible for running the dormitories. The dorm rules are not set by the university in a unilateral way. Instead, they are decided through talks between the students and the university side, after thorough discussion among dorm residents. The number of students in each dormitory, or on each dormitory floor, is limited to 30 to 40. This is the number of residents that past experience of dormitory management has shown to be optimal for a student-run dormitory.

All first to fourth year students live together at the dormitories. Dormitory meetings are held once a month in principle to discuss dormitory management policies and to develop consensus among residents. The residents also allocate certain duties, such as cleaning, which are essential aspects of communal life. They also discuss issues such as dormitory events and dormitory operational matters. In this way, the students form an autonomous cooperative community.