Collegiate Living Organization, Inc. Records

The Collegiate Living Organization (CLO), formerly the Cooperative Living Organization, was founded by four students at the University of Florida in 1932. The CLO is a cooperative organization where residents maintain the CLO's facilities to keep their housing costs low.

THe CLO was founded in 1932 by four University of Florida students who pooled their resources to afford living expenses in a small apartment over a garage. By 1933, the CLO had grown to 23 members in two houses, but after a short time, the 10 members who lived in the original house had left the CLO, leaving it with 13 men. The result was an agreement that 1) comfortable living arrangments should be made for the least amount of money possible, and 2) that any student or non-student who could afford o live elsewhere were excluded from being a member of the CLO.

In 1940, Dr. Joseph Fulk, formerly a professor of School Administration at UF, donated property to the CLO in honor of his late wife. That same year, CLO incorporated and gained its charter.

In 1953, when Dr. Fulk passed away, the CLO's property deed reverted in trust to the State Board of Education, who established a CLO advisory committee comprised of UF faculty and administrators.

In 1967, due to a nearly-forgotten law that the term "cooperative" could not be used in any non-agricultural corporation, the CLO reincorporated as Collegiate Living Organization, Inc.

Further information on the history of CLO can be found in their alumni archives.