A lot has changed since the ‘50s, when students of the opposite sex were rarely allowed into each other’s single sex residence halls.
Twenty years later, parents looked on uncertainly as universities began introducing co-ed dormitories.
Today, more than 90 percent of college dormitories are co-ed. For many, gender-neutral dorm rooms are simply the next step in the evolution of dormitory culture.
Rutgers University has gained recent attention for its new decision to offer co-ed dorm rooms for students beginning in the fall.
This adjustment to previous living situations has come about as a response to the Sept. 22, 2010 suicide of 18 year-old Tyler Clementi, a freshman at the university.
Clementi’s suicide followed the surfacing of a film his roommate secretly made of him during one of his sexual encounters with another male student in his dorm room.
Many people share the opinion that Clementi would not have faced such a tragic end had he been able to choose a roommate he was more comfortable with, even if that roommate was a female.
More than 30 universities now offer co-ed rooms for students, including Harvard University, Columbia University, Cornell University and Dartmouth College.
The National Student Genderblind Campaign started in 2006 as a grassroots movement amongst American university students with the purpose of broadening and redefining gender equality.
The goal of the NSGC is to help students in universities across the country develop proposals and campaign their universities’ administrations for gender-neutral housing, in order to provide more equality and options for gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgendered and questioning students on college campuses.
David Norton, executive director of NSGC, told Cincinnati Magazine, “Each school has its own take on how and why to change [its housing] policy. Many see it as a social justice campaign—something that affects all students.”
Many state universities, including The University of Pennsylvania, Ohio University, San Diego State University, University of Connecticut, University of Southern Maine and University of Michigan have made the transition towards gender-neutral on-campus living, in order to show students that they don’t have to move off-campus in order to live comfortably.
Some colleges are taking co-ed dorm rooms a step farther, though, opening the options for opposite sexes to cohabitate, even if both potential roommates are straight.
UT students will notice on their housing forms a statement from Residence Life reminding students that cohabitation is illegal in Florida.
In fact, a Florida Statute 798.02 states that “If any man and woman, not being married to each other, lewdly and lasciviously associate or cohabit together, they shall be guilty of a misdemeanor of the second degree.”
However, Miami University just implemented a gender-neutral housing program this year, meaning they were not hindered by the cohabitation law.
So how do UT students feel about co-ed dorm rooms?
“I don’t see any problem with guys and girls living together,” freshman Taylor Kelly said. “I actually wanted to live with one of my [female] friends; we just got along really well. She ended up living with me for a while when I moved off-campus.”
Chloe Campbell, a junior, had a different take. “One of my beliefs is that it’s the way it should be right now,” she said.
“I think that during the college years, everyone gets a little crazy anyways, and living with the opposite sex would encourage more irresponsibility.”
Krystal Schofield, Director of Residence Life, said, “We have had the occasional request for a co-ed roommate. It has not only come from members of the Gay Lesbian Transgender Straight Organization (GLTSO) community, but also couples and friends of the opposite sex who would like to live together.”
A big issue of co-ed housing Schofield mentioned was the logistics.
“I cannot compare our housing options to those at Rutgers. I do not know if they offer as many singles and suite style options, or if they have primarily double loaded corridor student room like the community side of McKay.
“Bathroom access would make a big difference when considering these options,” she explained.
She went on to say, “I think that having a co-ed option could be a challenge for students and staff, but also for vacancies created if one of those students moves out and they do not have a friend who fills the room.”
According to Schofield, at this time, UT is not considering implementing a gender-neutral housing program.
Whether or not co-ed dorms will find a place anytime soon in UT’s future, the fact is that gender-neutral housing programs are being talked about, seriously considered and even implemented in many universities across the country.
A concept that would have seemed incredulous to students fifty years ago, providing gender-neutral housing is just one more way that today’s college campuses are evolving.
Channing Hailey can be reached at channing.hailey@spartans.ut.edu.