Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: limited-access events in common space

[Sharon Villines (sharon]

On Jan 10, 2010, at 10:34 PM, Muriel Kranowski wrote:

> So, is it legitimate for a self-defined subgroup to meet in a common  
> space
> and exclude other members?  Has this come up, or does this occur, in  
> other
> communities?  And even if not, I'd like to hear your philosophical  
> take on it.

A long delayed response. The only kind of thing we've had like this is  
an NVC group that takes in new people at set times --every 3-6 months  
or so. And a Spanish class that only wants people who are at the same  
level they are. A birthday party was once announced as only for 3-year- 
olds.

I think those are reasonable requests. Nothing is decided based on the  
'who', but on objective standards that others can meet if they want  
to. Well, I guess not the 3-year-old part.

People here would be very uncomfortable setting up an exclusive group,  
particularly a social group. Even adults-only dinners cause some  
friction in some places.

We have a policy that if a group is going to meet more than 2-3 times,  
like a regular book group, would have to ask if there were objections.  
I think there would be objections to your subgroup.

Sharon
----
Sharon Villines
Takoma Village Cohousing, Washington DC
http://www.takomavillage.org