Students of many cultures, faith backgrounds, and beliefs are welcome at UC Berkeley. In an effort to honor the practices of different students around their faith or cultural beliefs, UC Berkeley Housing provides several options to students for their living environment, including:
An All-Women’s Floor or Suite based on religious or cultural beliefs or practice
An All-Men’s Floor or Suite based on religious or cultural beliefs or practice
Additional Space for Prayer or Religious Practice (please note that we do not typically assign single rooms as a religious accommodation)
Housing location with close proximity to place of worship
Semi-private bathroom based on religious or cultural beliefs
For students seeking spaces to practice their faith privately, please note there are many options to do so outside of your Residence Hall room. As a result, we do not typically provide private rooms to students requesting religious accommodations. Many of our Residence Halls and Apartments have meeting rooms and lounges that you may reserve and use for your practice. There is also a meditation room open to students 24/7 at Eshleman Hall.
In order to request any of the accommodations listed above, or others that you believe might apply, please check out the information below.
For more information, you may get in touch with the UC Berkeley Housing Accommodations Coordinator:
Steps for Requesting a Religious or Culturally Based Housing Assignment
Step 1: Submitting the Application
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If you wish to specifically request a housing assignment based on your religious or cultural identity, you are encouraged to fill out “Phase 1” of the housing application by the deadline. In the "Accommodations" section, you will find a link to the Identity-Based Request Form.
You are not required to provide any specific information, but if there are considerations you wish for us to take into account, you may include more details. For example, if you wish to request a location close to a place of worship, please provide either the address of the place of worship or a housing unit that is nearby.
After you provide this documentation, the Accommodation Coordinator will try to locate a room that matches your request. Please keep in mind that our housing inventory is limited, and requests are not guaranteed. We do not typically provide single (private) bedrooms as a religious accommodation.
Step 3: Receiving a Housing Offer
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Students who receive a housing offer will be notified of the offer via email to their berkeley.edu email address, and will be given the opportunity to accept or decline the housing offer online by completing Phase 2 of the application (portal.housing.berkeley.edu). By declining an offer, the student is indicating they do not wish to live on campus, and they will not receive an offer for a different space.
Prior to receiving an offer, the Accommodation Coordinator may email you with more information about the housing assignment located for you based on your religious or cultural request, or to discuss alternative options if a space was not available that matched the details of your request.