Since 2014, SMU undergraduates have found welcoming communities in the Residential Commons.
In 2014, SMU adopted a new style of campus living – the Residential Commons system – trading a traditional student housing model for something significantly more focused on community and faculty involvement. Still one of only 12 colleges in the nation to employ this system, it’s one of the things that makes SMU such a special place.
Each of the 11 Commons have their own core values, signature events and community programming through Engage Dallas, a place-based engagement initiative.
“By living and serving together, students not only build stronger connections with each other, but also develop a sense of civic responsibility,” says Jennifer Post, director of Residence Life.
Students also benefit from the presence of FIRs, or Faculty in Residence, who live among them in the Commons and host weekly programs to foster connection.
“There is nothing better than the sense of community in the Residential Commons,” says Ryah McDonald ’24, who has served as a resident assistant in Armstrong Commons for the past three years.
Questions about living on campus? Check out our FAQ or take a virtual tour.
Ryah McDonald ’24 shares a peek of her life as a resident assistant for Armstrong Commons.
Discover more – click a shield to find out more about each residential commons on SMU’s campus.
Curious what life in the Commons is really like? Let Blake Gebhardt and Anna McDonald show you around.
Students aren’t the only ones who call the Residential Commons home. Over the years, a number of FiRs have raised kids and pets among their communities – and enriching the experience for all.
Bean the dog at Morrison-McGinnis
The Son family at Boaz
The Kerins family at Morrison-McGinnis
Margot the dog at McElvaney
Marcel the cat at Armstrong
Zachary with mom Leanne Ketterlin Geller at Crum
Maeby the cat at Armstrong
Schedule a visit and take a peek at what life on the Hilltop is all about.
Values: Integrity; Knowledge; Growth; Loyalty
Year built: 2014
Community focus: Community rebuilding
Namesake: Richard Ware ’68, SMU Board of Trustees member and former vice chair of the Board
Faculty in Residence: Andrew Graybill Signature events: Krewe du Ware (dates)
We both attended SMU and started dating shortly after graduation. Both our parents — Carolyn Bender ’81 and Gary Bender ’81, and Rose DeTrempe ’84 and Peter DeTrempe ’83 — met at and graduated from SMU. Between the two of us, we also have three siblings and three siblings-in-law who attended SMU. The school has held many love stories for our families!
An automated post on Classmates.com played matchmaker for us. In 2021, Charles noticed the message on his account suggesting he might remember me from high school. Although my yearbook picture looked familiar, he didn’t remember me exactly. When he clicked on my profile, Classmates sent me a message that someone from high school “remembered” me. I took the next step by emailing him, using my father as the connection. Since Charles earned his Juris Doctor from SMU and had been adjunct faculty at the University, I thought he might remember my father, who had been an SMU law professor. He did. After thousands of emails and some late-night phone calls, Charles drove from Dallas to Austin in September 2021 to meet me in person. By month’s end, he proposed, and we married at my home in Austin that December.
William and I lived in Shuttles Hall during our freshman and sophomore years but didn’t start dating until our junior year. We’ve been together for 16 years (married 11) and have two kids.
We knew early in our relationship that we had found the one. After meeting at the Crossroads retreat in 2007, we orbited each other for about a year before officially dating in 2008, and we never looked back! We became husband and wife in 2011, and now we are the parents of two boys (7 and 3). Our years together at SMU — enjoying countless formals, date dashes, homecoming float builds and even lazy lunches at Hughes-Trigg — are some of our most cherished memories. Having settled in Dallas, we are grateful that we can continue to make memories at SMU with our sons.
My wife and I met at SMU during my first week of school at the bookstore in 1999. I knew that day that I had met my wife. We lived in Boaz, were friends until junior year when we started dating. Now, we have been married for 13 years and have 10-year-old twin girls.
Cayla Atha ’10 and Tyler Atha ’09 met in January of 2007, during Tyler’s sophomore year and Cayla’s freshman year at SMU. Cayla and a few of her pledge sisters went out to dinner at Gloria’s with a group of friends, including Tyler and his friends. At one point, Cayla went to the restroom and came back to see her purse and things had been moved to the other end of the table, right next to Tyler. While she was gone the table had plotted to set the two of them up! By the end of their dinner, Tyler and Cayla left holding hands and the rest is history.
