WMU Student
The Bronco Connect LLC has helped me build meaningful relationships with those around me. Building these relationships improved my social and emotional health, allowing me to thrive here at Western.
Juliana

Bronco Connect Community

College is a journey of self-discovery, and you may be like a lot of students who are still deciding what your destination will be. The Bronco Connect Community is a place where you can find belonging, that encourages exploration, navigate personal and academic interests and engage with campus programs and resources. It's designed to help you transition to college life with a strong social support network, support your well-being and set the stage for success.

Located in Shilling Hall (Valley 1), this community is for recipients of the Bronco Connect Scholarship, made possible by the Empowering Futures Gift. Scholarship recipients are able to live with a non-scholarship roommate in the Living Learning Community (LLC).

Highlights

  • The Advance, an included one-day bridge-to-college program to help you make friends and transition to the University.
  • Regular social programming, including Bronco Connect family dinners, to build relationships and sense of belonging within the community and greater University. An experience that incorporates your lived experiences and cultural identities so that you can thrive at WMU.
  • Weekly events focused on discovering your purpose, wellbeing and identity. 
  • Events for students in the second-year program focus on career competencies and preparing for internships. 
  • Access to a Student Success Center, open 7 p.m. to 1 a.m. Sunday through Thursday, for tutoring in math and science classes.

Scholarship

The Bronco Connect Scholarship is $6,000 applied to housing and dining costs. It is a need-based scholarship for Michigan residents that can be maintained for two years.  Preference will be given to admitted first-year or new transfer students who attend Kalamazoo Public Schools or have a Detroit or Grand Rapids address. Applications open Dec. 1 and are due in April 28; decisions will be released in April. Students must also complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA).

Scholarship recipients must live in the Bronco Connect Community or one of Western's other Living Learning Communities. Maintaining the scholarship requires meeting Bronco Connect Community participation expectations.