If you haven’t heard the buzzword “gender-neutral housing” yet, chances are you will soon. The premise: roommates choose who they want to live with on campus, and gender isn’t a consideration.
More than 50 schools across the country offer some form of gender-neutral housing, according to Jeffrey Chang, co-founder and associate director of the National Student Genderblind Campaign. The dorm option is an opportunity for good friends of opposite genders. Notably, it’s a relief for members of the LGBT community who may not feel comfortable living in standard, single-sex housing.
The University of Pennsylvania started offering gender-neutral housing in 2005 to students who are sophomores and older. “Some students asked if it were possible, and it went through the normal procedures that you use when you have a change in housing policy,” says Ron Ozio, Director of Media Relations at the university. “It was approved, and it became available.” Ozio says he is not aware of any complaints in the past five years, and that he doesn’t anticipate any changes to the program in the near future. “I will say that very, very few students have ever even asked for it,” he says. Only about 1 percent of the student body opted in last year.
But despite the tiny fraction of students who participate, gender-neutral housing policies are creating a lot of noise nationwide. Some opponents say they encourage couples to shack up, even that they’re morally and societally destructive. Whatever you think of the option, you can’t ignore its recent prevalence across the country, both in college dorms and in conversation.
Her Campus talked to some of the people who know gender-neutral housing best—the ones who petitioned for and against it, and those who live in it—about their thoughts on the much talked-about dorm setup.
Annie: Tried Her University’s Pilot Program
It’s easy to imagine that the wrong roommate could prove disastrous in an approximately 14-by-12-foot dorm room, so it’s a good thing Annie Ormson is a huge fan of hers. Annie and her roommate, Dan, are part of the Gender Open Housing pilot program at Northwestern University.
The housing policy, which went into effect this school year, states that certain dorm rooms will not be assigned based on gender. Annie and Dan applied to participate together last spring. “I just thought it would be like living with my friend, and we would be able to talk, and I could see him everyday,” says Annie, a sophomore. “I wasn’t really hesitant about any part of it.”
Annie says gender-neutral housing is not for everyone, but it can be a great experience for those who decide to give it a try. In fact, she seems entirely nonchalant about living with Dan, who is openly gay. “We never really made ground rules,” Annie says. “People always ask, ‘Oh, do you change in front of each other?’ Our room’s set up so you change and it doesn’t have to be all over the place. And the bathroom’s right across the hall.”
Annie plans to live off-campus next year, but she says she would definitely consider living with Dan again if she stayed on campus. “I love living with him, and I think he enjoys living with me too. There’s really no regrets,” she says.
Truth be told, Annie was surprised by one aspect of living in gender-neutral housing with Dan: “He snores,” she says. “That was annoying for like two days, and then I got over it. It’s a good life skill to be able to live with someone who snores, you know?”
Emily: Fighting for Gender-Neutral Housing
Emily Rutherford says she thinks it’s ridiculous to not have a gender-neutral housing option. The Princeton University junior wrote an opinion piece in favor of gender-neutral housing at Princeton that appeared in Princeton Progressive Nation in January 2009. In her piece, Emily asked the university to recognize that “young adults can be trusted to make their own decisions—not just about academics, extracurriculars, or what to do on a Saturday night, but about the gender of their roommates too.”
At the time, most Ivy League schools already had gender-neutral housing policies in effect, but Princeton had not given it a test run yet.
Emily points out that many young people choose to live in coed housing situations when they’re away from home, either for internships or jobs. “You don’t live in gender-segregated dorms when you’re a real person,” she says. “I think most young people today want to be considered real people, and so I think that’s just becoming increasingly the norm.”
Gender-neutral housing committee members on Princeton’s student government spotted Emily’s piece and asked her to help them draft a policy proposal. It was approved, and certain rooms became gender-neutral for the first time this fall.
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Mike: Spoke Out Against Gender-Neutral Housing
Mike Young, a College of William & Mary senior, says there are too many spotty patches in gender-neutral housing policies for it to be considered a viable campus option. Mike co-wrote (with Her Campus staffer Sarah Nadler) an opinion piece last fall for his college paper titled “Not the time or place for gender neutral housing.”
Two, Mike says it can only complicate dorm lottery processes at schools that are already low on available rooms. “Any college with a housing scarcity problem would probably feel the same way about assigning special interest housing,” he says.
Mike also says schools that rely heavily on donations must consider the potential repercussions of policies donors may not support.
However, Mike is quick to point out that he completely supports looking into other alternatives for LGBT students who don’t feel comfortable in standard housing. While William & Mary does not have a gender-neutral housing policy, the College currently offers an adaptive housing policy based on gender identity. It gives easier access to single rooms, Mike says. “If someone is uncomfortable with their living situation, that’s something that the college definitely needs to address,” he says. “I just don’t think gender-neutral housing is the best solution.”
Morgan: Getting the Word Out on GNH
Morgan Richardson, who’s on the executive board of Northwestern’s Rainbow Alliance, was thrilled to hear about Northwestern’s new pilot program. “Many of Northwestern’s competitor schools have similar programs. It was time for NU to step up,” she says.
Morgan lives in a single in a gender-neutral suite. “I decided to live here because I wanted to support the program. I think it needs to be publicized more so that students who need this program can know about it and take advantage,” she says.
Morgan says the experience has been great so far. She even hopes to live with some of the people she has met through the option next year.
Housing near Princeton doesn’t come cheap. That’s why the vast majority of undergraduate students choose to live on campus, says senior Sam Borchard. Sam really wanted to live with one of his friends, who happens to be a girl, so they looked into gender-neutral housing after Princeton announced the new policy.
He currently lives in gender-neutral housing with three good friends—one other guy and two girls. The four roommates each have their own bedroom, but they share a common area and bathroom. “It’s been wonderful!” says Sam. “We all get along really well, and the rooming situation has been one of the most pleasant I’ve been in at school.”
Sam, who’s heterosexual, says he and his roommates are in favor of supporting the LGBT community with this option, but that’s not why they chose it. “We decided to live in gender-neutral housing because we’re all friends and wanted to live together,” says Sam. “I think ideologically we all support it, but it wasn’t a stand.”
Would he make the same choice again? “Absolutely!”
Sources
Jeffrey Chang, co-founder and associate director of the National Student Genderblind Campaign
Ron Ozio, Director of Media Relations, University of Pennsylvania
College students from across the country