The Office of Residential Life has been working with undergraduates on a proposal to allow first-years to opt in to gender-neutral housing, said Richard Bova, senior associate dean of residential and dining services. Queer Alliance is collecting signatures for the proposal, which it expects to present to ResLife within the next two weeks. The proposal will then go to the Office of Campus Life and Student Services for approval.
The Queer Alliance is recommending ResLife include a question on the New Student Housing Questionnaire for incoming first-year students that would allow them to be assigned a roommate assignment regardless of gender. Though gender neutral rooms could exist in any first-year residence hall, the proposal specifically names Emery and Woolley halls because of their private bathrooms.
GenderAction, a subgroup of Queer Alliance, aims to offer more comfortable housing to students who do not fit within the gender binary, said Maddy Jennewein '14, co-president of GenderAction. Under the proposal, the gender-neutral option would be open to all incoming first-year students. Past proposals have failed due to a narrow focus on transgender issues, she said.
The current system is "a lot of work" for students who do not identify as strictly male or female because they have to negotiate with ResLife to change their room assignments, Jennewein said. "It seems like a small thing, but it's a big barrier if students have to pick up the phone to call ResLife to get appropriate housing," she said.
Gender-neutral housing for first-years was first considered in 2006, when ResLife adopted the current housing lottery system, Jennewein said. When the University approved the gender-neutral option for upperclass doubles in 2008, discussion reached the level of the Corporation. It is not clear if the Corporation would consider a proposal for implementation of gender-neutral housing for first-years, she said.
ResLife suggested GenderAction gather names to gauge student opinion in early October, Jennewein said. The group hopes to present the names to ResLife within the next two weeks and then present the proposal with ResLife to the Office of Campus Life and Student Services, she said.
The goal is to collect at least 600 names, which would represent about 10 percent of the student body, Jennewein said. Over 400 names have been collected so far, including those of 60 alums, she said.
Emily Walsh '13, who said she lived with a student two years ago who identified as "genderqueer and transquestioning," signed the proposal. Though Walsh said she and her roommate lived amicably, she remembers the email that the student had sent her, letting her know that he did not identify as female. Walsh said the situation made her wonder what would have happened if she had not been comfortable with her roommate situation. Gender-neutral housing would help students who identify as transgender or gender-variant feel more comfortable, she said.
The proposal seems like a good idea for students who identify as transgender or genderqueer, so long as both roommates opt in to the living situation, said Tene Johnson '14, who lives in gender-neutral housing this year with a male friend. But incoming first-year students might not opt in because they do not know their roommate, she said.
Ramsey Jeremie '12 said the proposal was appropriate because transgender and gender-variant issues are often overlooked by the University. Allowing students to choose a gender-neutral living situation "does more good than harm," he concluded.
