About Louhelen
Service-Learning and Community Engagement
Founded in 1931, Louhelen serves as an education and conference center for the Great Lakes region, and for students and partner organizations across the nation and around the globe. Louhelen provides spiritual and practical education and community service-learning opportunities for all ages, empowering diverse paths to personal development within a common commitment of service to humanity. Collaborative partnerships with community-based organizations—locally, nationally, and internationally—create diverse opportunities to link learning to action for community improvement.
A Diverse Learning Community 
With full-scale education and conference facilities serving groups of up to 250 people at a time, Louhelen learners have the unique advantage of experiencing a small-scale, spiritually and socially vibrant residential learning community, enriched by a culturally and socially diverse student population. Louhelen’s vibrant community-based learning environment encourages active exploration of human interests and issues and consultation on effective paths of service to address them.
Education: The Foundation of Every Human Excellence
Louhelen’s approach to learning and its community service programs expresses the distinctive Bahá'í commitment to education as “the indispensable foundation of every human excellence.” This vision of education embraces learning that is:
Dedicated to the independent investigation of truth and freedom of conscience. . .
Dedicated to active learning and transformative change. . .
Dedicated to empowering individual initiative through the spirit of friendship and collaboration. . .
Dedicated to fostering the spirit and habits of respect for the well-being of all. . .
Dedicated to translating visionary ideals of global citizenship into daily deeds of constructive living. . .
Planning Your Visit 
Check-in begins at 4:00 p.m. on the first day of the session and ends at 11:00 p.m. Dinner is served from 5:30 – 6:20 p.m. on the first day of a conference. Please let us know if you will arrive in time for dinner. If you must arrive after 11:00 p.m. please advise the Registrar before 9:00 p.m. that night.
Cancellations: If it is necessary to cancel your registration please inform the Registrar, as there may be someone on the waiting list who can benefit from your place.
Students under 18 not accompanied by a parent or legal guardian must present a signed sponsorship agreement form and medical release form upon registration. Please inform the Registrar if you need such forms. The sponsorship form is not required for Camp Louhelen, or Junior Youth or Youth Conferences and Institutes.
If traveling by air, please plan to arrive at Bishop International Airport in Flint at approximately 3 p.m. on the first day and plan to leave at approximately 3 p.m. on the final day of the session. Please inform the Registrar if you are unable to make these arrangements. When you arrive at the Flint airport, please go to the baggage claim area. After collecting your luggage please step outside the terminal and look for the Louhelen van (dark blue with a Louhelen Bahá’í School logo on the side and back). If you do not see the van within 20 minutes please phone the School at (810) 653-5033 or (800) 894-9716.
Payment may be made by cash, check, money order, traveler’s checks, MasterCard, Visa, American Express, or Discover.
Guests in family-style bedrooms on the second floor of the dormitories may be assigned to upper or lower bunks.
Before You Arrive
What to bring: prayer books, notebooks, pens, pencils, hiking shoes, jackets or sweaters, musical instruments, camera and film, and extra cash for the bookstore café. Please do not bring radios and other electronic entertainment.
Clothing: We invite you to help foster the uniquely spiritual environment of the School by upholding high standards of dignity, modesty, and moderation in your choice of clothing. Standards of dress vary from culture to culture, and what is acceptable in one place may be very disturbing in another. As the school welcomes people from all backgrounds, we have learned that pants, jeans, dresses, longer styles of shorts, and tops that fully cover the torso are both comfortable and acceptable to all in this school setting. Please refrain from clothing styles (short shorts or skirts, tank tops, tops with narrow straps, etc.) that depart from these general guidelines.
During the summer months you may wish to bring insect repellent, and (if desired) a small fan for your room.
Special Meal Requests: Some vegetarian options are available at every meal. We are unable to provide special meals for individuals; however some accommodations may be made for medically prescribed diets if the School’s resources permit. Please inform the Registrar at least two weeks in advance.
During Your Stay 
Children must be fully supervised by their parents or adult sponsor while not in their assigned children’s class. The school does not provide supervision for children outside their scheduled classes.
Vehicles must be parked in the main parking lot during your stay. After registering, you may park briefly behind the dormitories for unloading. Then kindly move your car to the main parking lot to allow emergency vehicle
access.
Louhelen operates as a closed campus. Most items that you may need are available for purchase at the front desk. During week-long conferences, daily purchases can be made in town for items you may need. If you must leave, please inform the front desk in case of an emergency.
Mail is posted every day except Sunday. During the conference, you may receive mail c/o Louhelen Bahá’í School, 3208 South State Road, Davison, MI 48423. Please advise friends and relatives of your departure date from Louhelen to avoid delays in receiving your mail after the conference.
Laundry facilities are available on campus. Detergent is available at the front desk for $.50/load. Kindly pay $1.00/load (wash or dry) at the front desk.
Injury or illness should be reported at the front desk or to the Administrators of Louhelen Bahá’í School.
Smoking is not permitted in any of the buildings. Smoking is permitted only on the patio at the back of the main building. State law prohibits smoking by anyone under the age of 18.
Alcohol and pets are not permitted on the campus.
Please make every effort to promote unity by actively reaching out to build friendships with all the other friends at the school.
Before You Depart
The simple act of remaking your bed and leaving your room neat and orderly allows you to extend a spirit of loving hospitality to the next guest. Place used linens on the floor in your room. Please do not return them to the front desk.
Check-out time on the last day of the session is 1:00 p.m. Please return your room keycard and library books to the front desk by or before that time.
Origins and History
In 1930, soon after he had become a member of the Bahá’í Faith, Mr. L.W. Eggleston purchased a farm near Davison, Michigan with the express intention of using the grounds and facilities for a Bahá’í Summer School. In the same year, he and Miss Helen Whitney were joined in marriage, and together they made plans to start the school the very next summer. The first nine days of August, 1931 marked the first season of Louhelen Bahá’í School. 
In all, 35 Bahá’ís and friends, from six states, attended as full-time participants, and about 50 others, mainly from Detroit and Flint, came as day students to one or more classes. The sessions were held that year in a wooded area sloping down to a clear stream, either in a lodge on the hillside or in an open-air amphitheater nearby.
To ensure that the School would continue season after season, the Egglestons worked diligently to improve the school’s facilities. A small barn was partitioned into private rooms and became the Pullman Lodge. A dining porch was added to the main house to improve the serving of meals. 
For nearly twenty years the Egglestons poured out their energy, effort, and money in improving and maintaining the accommodations. Finally, in 1949 they deeded to the National Spiritual Assembly of the United States the school buildings and the land on which they stood. In the late 1970s Louhelen underwent tremendous change, removing older buildings and erecting new ones. In 1983, the National Spiritual Assembly opened the buildings which currently comprise Louhelen. A new auditorium was added in 2001. With your interest and support, Louhelen constantly strives to enhance its service to all, while remaining true to its heritage of beauty, charm, and peaceful atmosphere.
