The Herald recently reported that the Office of Residential Life is considering a proposal that will allow first-year students to choose to be assigned a roommate irrespective of gender ("Gender-neutral housing gains traction," Oct. 24). The goal of the proposal, spearheaded by Gender Action, is to allow students who are uncomfortable with the traditional gender binary to feel at home in their living environments.
Such a system would be implemented by adding an item to the housing questionnaire that first-years receive in the summer, asking whether students want their gender to be left out of the equation when matching roommates. Though some specific first-year housing requests, such as substance-free living, group students together in the same location, a strength of the proposal is that gender-neutral doubles would be scattered across first-year dorms with some consideration given to placement of gender-neutral bathroom facilities, thereby promoting inclusivity.
The proposal would be an extension of the current gender-neutral option, which was approved for upperclassmen in 2008. Though there are currently few mixed upperclassmen doubles, a gender-neutral housing option would potentially have greater effect on first-years — freshmen are usually required to live in doubles, whereas upperclassmen have often more choices to live in suites or singles. Traditionally transgender students have had to work individually with ResLife to request alternate housing, and allowing students to preemptively indicate their preferences would undoubtedly save time and alleviate stress for all parties involved.
Though the customary fear in allowing for students of the opposite sex to room together is that some may choose to participate for the wrong reasons or that it will promote promiscuity, students can generally be expected to make this choice wisely. In the past, ResLife has cautioned against couples rooming together, and we hope it is able to effectively communicate the motivation behind offering this housing option to incoming students who may be unfamiliar with the concept of gender-neutrality. On the other hand, in an email to the editorial page board, Maddy Jennewein '14, co-president of Gender Action, said it is entirely possible that transgender or questioning students will not be the only ones who opt in for gender-neutral housing, but allied students will do so as well out of solidarity. This would provide a great opportunity for both Brown to send a message about institutional accommodation to new students and for freshmen to join in making such a statement before they even step foot on campus.
We find this proposal to be strong in many respects, and we hope that current students will join in endorsing it by signing Gender Action's petitions. With the University making plans to construct new dorms and reorganize first-year housing, it is important to consider the other aspects of the freshman dorm experience that impact a student's sense of well being. As ResLife sends the gender-neutral housing option forward, we hope to see the Office of Campus Life and Student Service approve it and thus provide future classes of Brown students with the living environments in which they can feel at ease.
Editorials are written by The Herald's editorial page board. Send comments to editorials@browndailyherald.com.
