[1][4] Residents of Lafayette Morehouse consider themselves to be social researchers studying the nature of pleasurable group living.
[7] Victor Baranco recognized that to sustain a cohesive group it was imperative to handle communication, sensuality, and decision-making.
[10][13] Based on this realization, in 1968 he conceived of the Morehouse lifestyle as one in which people could live together pleasurably without doing anything they did not want to do,[20][21] while serving the world unselfishly and profiting by it.
[1][9] In 1977 the State of California adopted laws to encourage and regulate new educational institutions, and More University was created as a DBA of Lafayette Morehouse Inc., a for-profit corporation that had been formed in 1972.
[note 1] Most of these have been in northern California,[9] but related communities have also been located in New York,[32] Pennsylvania, Georgia, Hawaii, and other states.
[21][32] The group has found that people who live deliberately and with awareness enjoy more fun relationships, which have tended to endure and deepen intimacy.
[2][36] This system is meant to encourage open communication and ensure that all voices are heard and considered before moving forward.
[2][14] Course topics include pleasurable interpersonal relationships, effective communication, alternative lifestyles, jealousy, money, philosophical viewpoints on perfection, and gratifying sensual life.
[39] One widely cited criticism of Victor Baranco and the Morehouse community was in David Felton's book Mindfuckers.
[40] The section on Baranco was repackaged from two Rolling Stone magazine articles, and the principal allegation was that he profited excessively by having group members pay to live in houses while renovating them.
[24][38] Most of these criticisms date to the period (1991–2000) in which the group opened its doors and provided food and shelter to a large number of homeless people as their guests, using military surplus tents.
[25][44] Neighbors were angered by the influx of unattractive people,[8][24] and the county sought to enforce zoning codes to end the activity.
After a long court battle with Contra Costa County, Lafayette Morehouse was ordered to take down the tents.