By LETTIE STRATTON
Chris Shrope ’13 and Tom Duggan ’13 were in New Zealand together last fall when they first started brainstorming ideas for a new theme house on campus. I sat down with them by the fireplace in this new house—the L.I.G.H.T. house—located at 17 College Street, to talk about what the house is all about.
Hill News (HN): First of all, what does L.I.G.H.T. stand for?
Chris Shrope ’13 (CS): “Living Inspirationally Growing Healthy Together”
HN: How did the idea for the L.I.G.H.T. house come about?
Tom Duggan ’13 (TD): “Chris and I got talking about how people get stuck on the tracks of their major at SLU, or just get focused on one thing. People are so busy at college that they often lose their personal time. We think it’s important to facilitate a new level of awareness, to learn about yourself and learn about your community.”
CS: “I had been reading books on Krishna [a central figure of Hinduism] in New Zealand and I had lengthy conversations with a woman who went there to feed the masses and spread good word of Krishna. She worked for the International Society for Krishna Consciousness.”
TDs: “We both got into Eastern thought and were talking a lot about Buddhism. We thought, ‘how can we make these ideas accessible to people?’ In the L.I.G.H.T. house, we’ll try to spread the ‘good word’ in the SLU community and try to help people be aware of their lifestyles.
HN: What is the mission of the L.I.G.H.T. house?
TD: “Many campus organizations put a lot of time and energy into different causes attempting to increase health and wellness on campus. Maybe the L.I.G.H.T. house can be a think tank where these minds can come together and have a dialogue.”
CS: “Right now, our mission is not set in stone. The L.I.G.H.T. house is many things at its core. We want to collaborate with other theme houses and students who maybe haven’t found their niche yet. We want this house be an open space where the community can feel like they’re welcome to come and have conversations.”
HN: What does the L.I.G.H.T. house have planned for the rest of this semester?
TD: “Todd Cunningham, a SLU alum and energy worker, spoke at our open house, and we’re trying to get him to come back and lead a workshop on personal grounding.”
CS: “We also want to open up our house to community art of any form. We have a lot of wall space that we need to fill. If there are people from the community who want to show their art but haven’t found an outlet yet, they can display it in our house.”
TD: “Maybe further down the line, we’ll have an exhibit. We also recognize that there are a lot of people in this community that have gone cool places and done cool things. We can provide the space and organization for these people to give presentations or talks about their experiences and then facilitate a discussion afterward.”
The members of the L.I.G.H.T. house urge you to stop by 17 College Street for tea, fireside chats, and good vibes!
