Carnegie Mellon

House Government

Most of our houses have some form of house government or house council.  House councils allow residents to become actively involved with the undertakings of their specific houses.  House Council members help determine what social, cultural and academic events are created by the houses.  Many house councils create their own unique events while participating in larger campus happenings like Carnival Booth.  Council members are also able to give voice to students’ wants and needs.  Many House improvements have been driven by house councils.  Besides contributing to the quality of the student experience, house councils contribute to the personal development of participants.  Residents that are involved in House councils are able to undertake local leadership positions that will help them develop important skills.  

Most of the house councils have regularly scheduled meetings and actively recruit for participants throughout the year.  Please contact your Housefellow or Community Advisor about specifics for your hall. 

Student Dormitory Council
The Student Dormitory Council serves as the student government body for students living in University housing. SDC represent the interests of all on-campus residents while striving to be an integral part of Carnegie Mellon's continuing efforts to improve the quality of campus life.  SDC provides numerous resources to house council and groups with the house communities. 

SDC and its ten committees work to meet its goals of improving the residential and campus life of residents through:  programming of events, funding initiatives, supporting the individual houses, and representing the needs of residents to the administration.  SDC represents residents to the administration SDC has worked with Housing, Dining, and Student Life to improve many aspects of campus life including dining options.  SDC owns and maintains recreational equipment in the house communities. Through the Films, Underground, and Programming committees, SDC plans and implements campus-wide activities, including Saturday night films in the UC, Friday night shows in the Underground, Ski Trips, and “Fright Night” at Kennywood.  The SDC funding committee helps support many residential and student life programs. SDC provides students non-affiliated with other organizations the ability to participate in Carnival through the SDC Buggy and Booth committees.  This is just a small list of the services SDC provides the campus community.  SDC general body meetings are open to all students and occur on Wednesday nights at 7:30 PM.  Please visit the SDC website for information.