Principles & Values

Our Vision

We, the member-owners of the Inter-cooperative Council, envision an affordable living community in which equal, and educated members work together to further the cooperative movement.

Our Values

1. Equality: All people have equal worth. Open membership and non-discrimination are strongly held values in the ICC, and both are based on the assumption that all people are created equal. This tenet is central to all co-ops and is the basis for democracy.

2. Member Control: Control of resources in order to meet needs is a right. Co-ops give control to members who use their services, rather than to investors who want to make money. By being co-op members, we actualize our belief that people have the right to have control over resources based on need, not profit.

3. Individual Responsibility: There is value in individual contribution. As individuals, we have both the right and the responsibility to contribute to the best of our ability. The ICC believes that anyone is capable of sound decisions and actions, given access to resources and information, and the power to utilize them. Without the effort of individuals, there can be no group effort.

4. Sustainability: Wise use of resources is intrinsic to our mission.By reusing, recycling, and reducing resources, ICC actualizes our belief that all of the world’s people have the right to enough to meet their basic needs. We pledge to continuously look for ways to care for the earth.

5. Cooperation: Individuals working together are more effective than those working alone. Respect for individuals, while working together for mutual gain and support, makes cooperatives examples of the highest human values in action.

6. Cooperation: Working together allows us to improve our members’ lives in many ways. We are many co-ops in one, providing food, computers, laundry, newspapers, gardens, entertainment, training in business operations and management, etc. We look to continuously improve our members’ quality of life.

7. Self-Reliance: The ICC is its own most reliable resource. The ICC attempts to be a self-reliant organization, and to enable its members to be self-reliant individuals. Whenever possible, we use our own resources to solve problems before we look for outside help.

8. Diversity: Our diversity is one of our greatest strengths. Since its beginnings, ICC has actively created a community of people from all places, backgrounds, beliefs and lifestyles. We do not discriminate by race, gender, ability, sexual preference, nationality or any other category. We broaden our perspective and remove old prejudices by living together, and help change society by setting an example of respect and acceptance.

9. Community: Community is the key to our success. Community is a sense of belonging that connects all of us to one another. This idea is what drives us to improve our houses, and make them into homes. We try to spread this feeling to as many as we can. It influences our decisions on expansion, as well as on programs and services at both the house and organizational level.

10. Participation: Community requires the participation of empowered members.In the ICC, participation in work and the social life of the co-ops is as  important to success as the payment of charges. Participation reinforces the sense of community that makes a co-op last, even as individual members come and go. But for a community to succeed, participation must lead to empowerment; members exercising control over decision-making and the actual operations of the co-op.

11. Stewardship: The co-op should benefit both current and future members. Many members worked to build the ICC for us, and it is our job to be careful stewards so that the ICC will be here for many members to come. Because of this, we choose to buy houses rather than rent them, and to spend the money to keep them in good repair. We are grateful to our 20,000+ alums, and pledge to pass on an ICC that can serve 20,000+ more.

A Brief History of the Inter-Cooperative Council

By John Hopper, with additions by Jim Jones & Brian Nagorsky

During the United States’ economic depression of the early nineteen thirties, the first cooperative house at the University of Michigan was organized in 1932 by graduate students in the Student Socialist Club. A house was rented on East Ann street, and Michigan Socialist House was founded. By buying as a group and doing their own work, they cut room and board costs down to two dollars a week. They ran their house by democratic meetings, where every member had an equal voice in the affairs of the house.

By 1941, there were 8 men’s and 3 women’s co-ops organized in rented houses on the U. of M. campus. With the entrance of the U.S. into World War Two, a rental housing explosion occurred in Ann Arbor caused by the large number of war factory workers temporarily settling in town. Developers and speculators bought up many of the big houses that were suitable for co-ops. With rising rents and decreasing numbers of male students, only three co-ops survived into 1946: Owen, Lester, and Michigan.

The Inter-Cooperative Council was started in 1937 as a coordinating body for the cooperatives, and in 1944 it was incorporated as a non-profit organization. The first Board of Directors was organized, with the number of board representatives from each house being proportionate to the size of the group. The first house was purchased in that year: A. K. Stevens House, named in honor of the professor who co-signed the loan. Shortly thereafter, another house was purchased for Owen Co-op, which had been previously rented. In 1946, a building was purchased and a new co-op began, named Osterweil. In 1947, the building rented by the Michigan Socialist House on East Ann was sold, and the ICC purchased the house at 315 North State as a permanent home for the newly re-named Michigan Cooperative House.

In the years following World War Two, ICC functions were further centralized to satisfy legal requirements and to limit the liability of the members. Titles to houses were held in common and with the centralization of finances came the equalization of charges among members. The first ICC office was opened at Owen Co-op. In 1948, Nakamura was purchased, as was the first ICC truck (for hauling garbage).

The centralization of the ICC coupled with concern over reduced membership levels related to the Korean War, promoted the hiring of the first ICC employee. In the 1951, after an ICC-wide referendum, the hiring of a full-time Executive Secretary was approved. On December 12th of that year, Luther H Buchele began working for the ICC. His duties as Executive Secretary were corporate finances and accounting, advising committees, supervision of purchasing, and carrying out Board directives. Buchele worked for the ICC for nearly 34 years, until his retirement in 1985.

Between 1953 and 1965, the membership actively supported a period of steady expansion. Houses for Lester, which had been previously rented and Brandeis, a new co-op for married students and children were purchased in the 50’s bringing the total number of owned houses to six. In late 1961, members approved a 2% increase in rates to pay for expansion and soon afterwards a 20% increase in development funding was approved. At about the same time, the five existing kitchens were renovated, and two houses were added, Vail and Mark VIII. In 1965, Pickenil house was purchased and joined to Mark VIII (today known as Baker). These two houses and Stevens constituted Tri-House, the first co-ed co-op.

Between 1968 and 1971 came a period of explosive growth. Debs House was purchased in 1967, and in that year planning began for the North Campus Co-ops. The North Campus building was opened, still unfinished, in the fall of 1970. The 216 new members slept in sleeping bags at the Sterns Building until he construction was finished. In 1970, Bruce (today known as Truth) and Minnie’s houses were also opened. In a single year ( 1970 ) the capacity of the ICC went from 200 to 540 members. In 1971, Xanadu was opened bringing the number of ICC members to about 600. The houses were divided into three “Divisions” to decentralize governance and management.

From 1978 to 1980, the houses were rehabilitated with the help of a HUD loan for $1.6 million. Maintenance in many houses had gone lacking under the system of division maintenance budgets. An active Rehab Committee worked hard to improve the physical part of the ICC.

The ICC since 1978 has changed a little while changing a lot. The Board has placed more emphasis on planning and improving the quality of life in the co-ops. North Campus was reorganized from 11 co-ops to 2 ( Renaissance and O’Keeffe ) and the larger rooms were made optionally double or single. In 1985 the membership at the ICC annual meeting unanimously approved a restructuring of ICC governance, eliminating separate Division Councils and naming house presidents as representatives to the Board of Directors. The staff structure was altered that same year to give the new Executive Director, Jim Jones, more of the powers of a general manager.

And , in 1986, the ICC began to grow again, as Xanadu was sold and four building purchased. Two comprised Luther House, named the honor Luther Buchele, one became Black Elk, and the fourth is the ICC’s Moses Coady-Paulo Friere Cooperative Education Center. Regular expansion again became a part of ICC planning. In 1988 Linder House was purchased. This allowed Minnie’s to become monogamous boarding with Mich House and for Linder members to board at Vail. In 1990 the apartment house next to Nakamura was purchased and named Kagawa for Toyohiko Kagawa the Japanese cooperator. This house was run as apartments for several years until it was decided to convert to “suites”(larger apartments) that are part of Nakamura.

Many operational changes resulted from house and other problems during the late 80’s. Member accounts were centralized and computerized in the office, while minor maintenance was “socialized” in 1989, making more money available for houses with the greatest need. Additional staff were hired to improve both maintenance and educational services, and much greater effort was put into the training of both Board and house officers.

Nationally, ICC became deeply involved with the establishment and funding of the Campus Cooperative Development Corporation, which acts as a developer of student housing cooperatives in the United States and Canada, and NASCO Properties, a national holding company for student co-op property. By 1990 successful new cooperatives had been established at the University of California at Davis, the University of Chicago, Ohio University, and University of Vermont.