Mich house is the oldest student housing cooperative in the United States. In 1932, Michigan Socialist House was organized by the Socialist Club as a means to provide housing at "actual" cost. This was during The Great Depression, a time when students struggled to pay tuition and rent, often working long hours at low pay at the expense of valuable study time. Sher Quraishi, one of the founding members of Mich house, also led the foundation of the Wolverine Eating co-op in the same year. In 1932, room and board at Mich house was $2 a week. In 1939, house members voted to change the house's name to Michigan Co-operative House, although some members occasionally use the former name to this day.

In 1947, the landlord (possibly speculating on a boom in the student housing market after the end of World War II) would not renew the houses' lease. In response, the ICC purchased the current house on 315 N. State St., which continues the Michigan House tradition. When Mich house was founded, the University bureaucrats found the co-op concept difficult to understand. In contrast to Fraternities and Sororities, which are owned and ultimately controlled by alumni/ae, a co-op is controlled by its members, who make decisions for their own mutual benefit and the benefit of future co-op members. The co-ops posed a challenge to the reigning paradigm of in loco parentis, where the University paternalistically supervises students, even in their home and social lives. University rules required that all unmarried students live under the direct supervision of housemothers. Ruth Buchanan, librarian of the university's Labadie Radical Literature Collection, came to the rescue and offered to serve as a house mother for free. Mich house may have been the first student house where the housemother did not actually live on the premises.

Today, Mich house is known for its rocking parties at least as much as from its members' challenges of University and government policies, a few years ago one member stirred things up by hanging a banner proclaiming "Mich House Rocks Harder" from the large smokestack at the University's Steam Plant. People from Minnie's board here, and with an assortment of a few other boarders, our membership community typically numbers around 45.

Some of our policies include no tobacco smoking in the house, omnivorous and vegetarian options at meals, and five-minute seat reservations. Our house officers include: President, Board Representative, Work Manager, Treasurer, Secretary, Ordering Steward, Kitchen Czar, 2 Indoor Maintenance Managers, Outdoor Maintenance Manager, Sin Steward, and 2 Flight Attendants. The House President and Board Representative are elected by old and new members at the New Members Meeting in April for a year term, but all other officers are elected at the start of every semester and anyone can run (even YOU).

Each resident is required to do 4 hours, and Minnie's members are required to give about 3 hours of work a week to the house. Typical jobs include Dinner Cook; Lunch, Dinner, or Late night dish cleans; bathroom cleans; hall, TV room, living room, pantry/laundry room clean; or various other odd jobs such as guff cook. We must also give 8% of our labor credit hours to the ICC, so you could work in the ICC officer or sit on a committee for your labor credit. At the beginning of each term, we hold "Work Holiday", which is where we spend all day clean, fixing, mopping, scrubbing, vacuuming, partying, and painting to get our house all fixed up.

Charges (what co-opers pay instead of rent) were about $490 for Fall/Winter 07/08 and should be similar in the upcoming years. However, a portion of the budget is decided by the members new and old at the beginning of any particular year so you will have a say in how much your charges are when you move in. Mich house is close to campus and also the vibrant North State street cultural area, with many shops, restaurants, a few bars and clubs, and two independent movie theatres.

If you have any questions or just want to get a feel for the place, email the house President or stop by for dinner (served at 6:00 PM)...we don't always bite people we don't know.

The Social Side of Michigan House!
Cooperative living isn't all about working together to live in a successful household, it's also about getting to know your housemates and hanging out with them! Here are a sample of some of our social events throughout the year.

ICC Office: 337 E. William St. / Ann Arbor, MI 48104
(734) 662-4414 / fax (734) 662-5870
info@icc.coop