Living with a stranger is difficult enough. Why should there be any additional stress about what gender your roommate will be?
There is a solution to this problem that, once presented, seems so painfully clear and obvious that it is surprising that it has not already been implemented. The Gender Protection Initiative is a proposal to allow residents of one wing, suite or floor in a residential hall to choose the gender of their roommates. It is beneficial to the students who want it, it doesn’t affect the students who choose not to utilize it, and the university wouldn’t have to change a thing, other than which students are living in which rooms. So why isn’t gender-neutral housing already in action? What’s the hold up?
As stated in the online petition, gender-neutral housing would allow residents to have roommates of any gender or gender identity. According to McCormick senior Mykell Miller, president of the Gender Protection Initiative student group, the petition was started three weeks into winter quarter, although the idea had been alive since last year. When the petition closed, 653 students had signed in favor of instituting gender-neutral housing, and 129 of them expressed interest in living in it. These students are only the beginning of what ideally will become a campus-wide movement in support of the housing initiative.
“It’s the right thing to do — to offer a more inclusive housing option for students,” said Christina Yao, Assistant Director for Residential Life at Washington University in St. Louis, in an email. She’s right: students deserve the right to live in a place where they feel comfortable.
The petition lists some of the strongest arguments for gender-neutral housing — that “gay students, for example, frequently face discrimination from or feel uncomfortable around same-sex roommates,” “gender-variant students often feel misplaced in their dorms,” and “the students living with or around gender-variant students, even when they respect the gender-variant students, often also feel uncomfortable.” And of course, girls who just want to live with guy friends or vice versa would be free to do so. The petition does not require any students to live in gender-neutral housing; it simply provides it as an option.
This seems like a no-brainer. It’s not even a new idea, schools like the University of Chicago, Northeastern, Wesleyan and Oberlin have already instituted gender-neutral housing. Yet, Northwestern is still lagging. According to Yao, 24 students currently live in gender-neutral housing on WashU’s campus.
At Oregon State University, 48 students live in this setting, and according to Director of Residential Education Cindy Empey, there haven’t been any problems with the system. “Students are glad we have this option in our upper-class hall. Student leaders applaud the progressive approach — not just from a gender inclusive/LGBT perspective but also from a ‘we just want to room with who we want to room with’ perspective,” Empey said. Incoming freshmen already have the freedom to request a roommate of the same gender. Opening that choice up to both genders seems like a natural extension.
The petition promises no additional cost to the administration. “Our main goal is to make Northwestern safe for all people, students faculty and staff of any gender identity or expression. One of our specific goals is to procure gender-inclusive housing because there are people on campus who feel uncomfortable in single-sex housing because they are, for example, gender-variant,” Miller said.
When the petition closed, 653 students had signed in favor of instituting gender-neutral housing, and 129 of them expressed interest in living in it. These students are only the beginning of what ideally will become a campus-wide movement in support of the housing initiative.
Miller has encountered people who are concerned that heterosexual couples may take advantage of gender-neutral housing, perhaps taking spots in the housing that are meant for the students who really need them. This, however, seems like a small price to pay to provide some form of safe and comfortable housing for every student, and it may be the only price paid. The introduction of gender-neutral housing could have unexpected benefit — Miller believes that a more inclusive housing option might attract more prospective students to Northwestern, especially gender-variant students. “They may choose it because it shows Northwestern is very committed to diversity, so I would hope that it would have an effect in [the amount of applicants],” Miller said.
While other schools that have gender-neutral housing exclude underclassmen, Miller is in support of the housing being open to all ages, even freshmen. “For freshmen who live in gender-inclusive housing because they want role models,” Miller said, “they [can expect to have a] more positive experience and to integrate with NU community more easily.” There is no downside.
According to Miller, the petition closed last week and was presented to University Housing and Food Service, who are now reviewing the proposal and will reportedly submit their recommendation to Vice President of Student Affairs William Banis. We hope it works.