Next fall, students may have another option when choosing someone to room with on campus — someone of the opposite sex.
A gender-neutral housing option will be offered in some capacity, said Sarah Waters, director of Residence Life. This means there will be the option for a male and female student to share a room.
“I think to have those offerings to accommodate varying needs of students is one of our roles,” Waters said. “It’s one more way we diversify our housing.”
There has been discussion at the University about the potential for gender-neutral housing for a few years, Waters said.
“Gender-neutral housing is an emerging trend on college and university campuses in the past five years or so,” Waters said. “It’s definitely something a lot of universities are looking to add.”
The space at the University will start out small, probably a suite with four to six students living in it, she said.
Waters is waiting for a proposal from the Resident Student Association, a coordinating body of the campus residential community, about the housing option before going forward.
RSA hosted a speaker on gender-neutral housing a few weeks ago and after asking constituents, took a vote on whether they think the option should be available, said Brandon Swope, RSA president.
The results were 37 votes for gender-neutral housing to four votes against, Swope said. The organization has also had very positive reactions from students, Swopes said.
“We feel it’s important since we’re a university that values diversity,” Swope said. “It’s a step toward a more inclusive residential student community.”
Members of the organization are now finalizing a letter to Waters.
“The letter is in support of gender neutral housing, we also put in a bunch of recommendations we discussed as an organization,” Swope said.
Members of RSA feel that gender neutral housing would be very accommodating for those who are married, have a family, a medical problem, a disability or who are a member of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community, Swope said.
“It would provide a safer and more comfortable living and learning environment for all students on campus,” he said.
“Because we do have such a large population of LGBT residents on campus, it’s good to be able to offer these accommodations,” Swope said.
Waters said the concept has roots in the LGBT community in many ways.
If a student is transgender, he or she may have a roommate who understands, but once they leave the room and have to go into a bathroom, it may be uncomfortable for them, Waters said.
“Community bathrooms don’t readily create a culture of understanding,” she said.
Currently, residence life accommodates transgender students by giving them a special single where they have their own bathroom as well, Waters said.
While Residence Life has tried to make accommodations, they don’t work for every student, as some don’t want to pay more for a single, or give up the part of a college experience that comes with sharing a room, Waters said.
Liz Grabski, president of Vision, an LGBTQIAQA group, said she thinks gender-neutral housing is a good thing.
“It’s important to have combinations for people so they have a safe place,” Grabski said. “It provides an option for anyone who has an alternative gender identity, there are a lot of identities outside of male or female.”
It’s not a way to be “co-ed,” it’s a way to be safe for people, Grabski said.
David McKinley Brown, a sophomore and member of the LGBT Advisory Board, presented the idea to RSA and said he supports it for a few reasons.
“We’re all adults and I think we have the right to chose who we live with,” he said. “It’s not very inclusive to students who are not gender conforming.”
Both Brown and Waters have heard mostly positive feedback from students.
“It appeals to a variety of people,” Waters said. “I think we’ll see both sides … we’re not trying to create one cookie cutter everyone fits into.”
