The Intercultural Living Exchange, UMBC’s newest living and learning community, is an innovative program that incorporates linguistic and cultural components while promoting diversity, student-faculty interaction and service learning, three vital elements in the fostering of student success at UMBC. The program, a residential community in New Hall comprised of undergraduate and graduate students, promotes linguistic proficiency through the immersion of students in the language and culture of one of seven groups: Chinese,French, German, Japanese, Korean, Russian and Spanish the development of intercultural communication skills viewed as essential for success in today’s ever- integrating world. The linguistic and cultural competence of the mentor, as well as the knowledge and expertise that the faculty liaison for each group contributes, make this one of the most effective ways of obtaining cultural competency and fluency in a language while living within the university environment. Residing in the Intercultural Living Exchange is also an excellent opportunity for students preparing to study abroad, or for those wishing to maintain linguistic proficiency obtained in a previous international study experience.