Gender-neutral housing option in the works

Although dozens of universities across the nation have created gender-neutral housing, this university has not yet formalized an option available to all underclassmen — which has some students and faculty itching for a speedy change.

While officials said many students would opt to share a room with the opposite sex to cultivate a shared sense of camaraderie, they also said this housing option could promote safer living conditions for students, including members of the LGBTQQA community. A campuswide gender-neutral housing policy is being discussed, according to Resident Life Manager of Assignments and Public Inquiry Erin Iverson, but other officials and students said the university community is not acting quickly enough to lift the project off the ground.

"It does seem cumbersome to me that we aren't a bit further along than we are," said LGBT Equity Center Director Luke Jensen. "If Resident Life really wanted to move it along, it would move along faster. ... I think that we would see a lot less stress over living conditions in some of our student population."

Gender-neutral housing has been implemented in more than 80 universities nationwide, according to the Transgender Law & Policy Institute. However, the only offering of a similar vein at this university is the Apartment Living for Students of Different Genders program — available exclusively for upperclassmen in certain South Campus Commons and Courtyards apartments — which was launched during the 2008-2009 academic year.

About 60 students spanning 15 apartments are currently participating in the alternative housing option this year, which is fairly typical for the program, said Dennis Passarella-George, assistant director for housing partnerships.

"We're exploring the options, asking a lot of questions, trying to get feedback from among our Resident Life staff," Iverson said.

However, some said securing safe living environments for all on-campus students should be a top priority.

"There are problems [with gendered housing] that have already happened," Pride Alliance Social Chair Spencer Brennen said. "There are students that would benefit from having gender-neutral housing — they're here now, and they need this option."

Two of this university's peer institutions — University of California, Berkeley and University of Michigan — began offering gender-neutral housing in 2008 and 2006, respectively. Some students and university officials are mobilizing to create similar policies at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill and the University of California, Los Angeles.

Because buildings' layouts differ across the campus and students in certain living-learning programs are designated to live in specific dorms, bringing gender-neutral housing to dorms at this university would be complicated, Iverson said.

"We have to go through that process of trying to figure out: What does gender neutral mean for us and for our campus?" she said.

Although the Student Government Association currently does not have a gender-neutral housing resolution written for this semester, SGA Communications Director Staci Armezzani said legislators have discussed the possibility of crafting a proposal.

"Students want to have as many options made available to them as possible," Armezzani said.

Ultimately, she said, it's the power of the student voice that will likely have the most impact on such a policy.

"It's going to give us even more reason to want to write the bill when we hear from the students directly," Armezzani said.

marcot@umdbk.com