Consider the word: Akwe:kon.

Taken from the Mohawk language and pronounced "a-gway-go," it means "all of us."

To the residents of Akwe:kon -- the purple-and-gray North Campus house built in 1994 to celebrate native cultures of North America -- the name is deeply significant. The Akwe:kon community "is not limiting or exclusive in any way," says residence hall director Kakwireiosta Hall. "All people are welcomed and respected here."

Nearby, students who live at the Ujamaa Residential College, which focuses on the African diaspora, say the friendships, values and understanding they have gained there have inspired them to take a more active role outside the residence -- as a volunteer at the Southside Community Center or a local elementary school, a performer in an acting or dance troupe, or through other community service.

"This is a great place to meet people, find out what's happening on campus and where to get involved," says Arts and Sciences sophomore Teisha Swint. "Living here is a great way to start feeling a part of the Cornell community."

Akwe:kon and Ujamaa are two of Cornell's nine program houses, designed for students who share an interest in topics like music, ecology or the performing arts. (The seven other program houses are: the Latino Living Center (LLC), Ecology House, the Holland International Living Center, Just About Music, the Language House Program, the Multicultural Living Learning Unit, and Risley Residential College for the Creative and Performing Arts.) The residences are relatively small (35 to 190 spaces), but they also offer out-of-house membership for students who live elsewhere but want to take part.

Program houses can enhance students' academic learning, offer unique resources, activities and community service opportunities, and provide a sense of belonging within the giant Cornell community. But Akwe:kon and Ujamaa, like the LLC, which celebrates Latino heritage, are occasionally criticized and frequently misunderstood. Most recently, an April 4 CNN segment questioned whether the houses, because of their focus on particular cultures, actually encourage racial segregation.

The charges were quickly refuted by David Harris, vice provost for social sciences and professor of sociology. "Cornell University does not have any racially exclusive dorms," he said. "All of our facilities are open to all of our students, and in fact, students from different races and ethnicities choose residences from across the campus."

The residents were also taken aback by the CNN report. "People think, if I'm not Latino, I can't live here," says Nashalie Vasquez, a resident adviser in the LLC and sophomore in Arts and Sciences.

In fact, no residence on campus restricts access based on race or ethnicity. "We have a very diverse group of students; we're not all Latino. It's about wanting to learn and understand more about the culture; not being of the culture," Vasquez says.

For university administrators, the suggestion was one they've heard, and successfully refuted, before. A 1976 complaint filed by the New York state commissioner of education and a 1996 complaint filed by Michael Meyers, president and executive director of the New York Civil Rights Coalition, were both resolved with no violations found on Cornell's part.

According to Campus Life Housing System data, just 58 percent of the LLC's 57 residents identify themselves as Latino; 74 percent of Ujamaa's 140 residents consider themselves African-American, and 42 percent of the 35 students at Akwe:kon identify themselves as Native American. Within those percentages is a wide mix of cultures: African-American, for example, may mean having roots in Nigeria or Jamaica, South Africa or Haiti.

All three houses have residents with no roots in the cultures in question but who just want to learn about something new. And because the houses are small, the diversity in residences elsewhere on campus is not impacted. The total population of Akwe:kon, Ujamaa and the LLC is just 232, with a total on-campus student residential population of over 6,000.

Like Vasquez, some program house residents return for a second year. The majority (about 70 percent), though, do not.

Sometimes, that's due to a lack of space (each house must make at least 25 percent of its beds available to freshmen). And sometimes, it's because residents feel ready to take what they've learned and move on.

"The amazing benefit of program houses is that they allow freshmen to have mentors, and upperclassmen to act as mentors," says Amanda Colon, a junior in Arts and Sciences and Ujamaa resident. And that experience carries value long after residents leave the building.

"There's a sense of consciousness, that there's other people coming after you that you need to pave the way for," she said. "It's bigger than yourself."

Speaking from experience

The students of Akwe:kon, Ujamaa and the Latino Living Center (LLC) represent cultures and backgrounds as diverse as any on campus. But they share a respect for community and tradition, a desire to learn from each other and a dedication to giving back.

A few spoke recently about their experiences:

Marlena Fontes, Arts and Sciences (undecided major) '10: "Living in the LLC has definitely enhanced my education. I believe an education is not just the classes you take, but the human interactions you make. The LLC is an incredibly diverse community. We have people who have lived in the United States their entire lives; we have people who this is their first time in the U.S. We have people from a variety of countries and with different Spanish speaking skills. ... [The LLC] should be valued for what it is: an open and caring educational and cultural center."

Max Englander, Arts and Sciences (philosophy and government) '09: "Living [in Akwe:kon] has opened my mind to a number of cultural and personal issues that people face, within a Native context but applicable across diverse groups of people. ... Akwe:kon has increased my sense of identity by helping me understand how important one's cultural heritage and ancestors can be; how Native history and worldview can is so important to personal identity."

Tanya Tavaris, Arts and Sciences (Africana studies) '08: "Ujamaa holds programs that bring the Ujamaa residents as well as the community together. ... it is a place that no amount of words can truly describe."

Maria Diaz, Arts and Sciences (communication) '08: "It takes living here, coming here, being part of the community, to know what [the LLC] is like. It made me reach beyond the Cornell community."