A WEEK ago, a University student started a petition on Change.org requesting that the University establish gender-neutral housing on Grounds. Past efforts to get Student Council's Building and Grounds Committee to work toward establishing gender-neutral housing have not garnered much discussion, which was part of the motivation behind this petition's initiation. Despite these setbacks, the University student body should support the petition's aim in establishing housing that promotes awareness and support of LGBTQ individuals coming to Grounds.
More than a year ago, Tyler Clementi, a freshman at Rutgers University, committed suicide by jumping off the George Washington Bridge after discovering that his roommate had secretly recorded and shared intimate interactions between Clementi and another male in their dorm room. One of several in a string of LGBTQ related suicides, Clementi's death led to questions about LGBTQ individuals' safety as they go to college. As a result of the circumstances surrounding Clementi's death, Rutgers took steps to establish a pilot program of gender-neutral housing in an attempt to make the university more supportive of LGBTQ individuals.
One of the first aspects of maturing as an incoming college student is getting to know one's roommate. Since the University pairs roommates with little input from students, individuals often come in without knowledge of whom they will be rooming with and whether or not they will get along with their roommates. For incoming LGBTQ students, in particular, this brings hesitation and fear about whether their roommates will be accepting of who they are. For transgender students, this can be even more of an issue.
At a time in which the majority of youth in the United States are more accepting of LGBTQ individuals, universities must be willing to continue listening to those whose minds they help cultivate while also working to provide support to their minority populations. Although LGBTQ students are supported in the University's non-discrimination policy, they are still largely ignored when it comes to housing and building management.
It is true that students can often select their preference for a single room when applying for on-Grounds housing, but for first-years issues can still arise. For gay and lesbian students, fears of potential issues when using dorm restrooms are always present, although this does not generally appear to be an issue at our University. And for transgender students who are trying to figure out how to come out or who are in the process of transitioning, it can be harder if they must live on the floor of the sex with which they do not identify.
Even living in a single room in the Gooch residence area can be a hassle because of the fact that the bathroom is used by several people, and everyone is expected to be of the same gender. This can create a sticky situation for transgender students who are forced to choose between living as who they are or who society tells them they should be. Because of this, many transgender students may be forced to hide who they are in order to fit in with the wrong gender, placing unnecessary stress on a person during the already stressful transition to college living.
To ease the transition, the University should implement gender-neutral dorms or floors on Grounds for incoming students who need it. Students should show their support for this decision by signing the petition on Change.org. I would propose the creation of gender-neutral floors, which would allow the rest of the housing system to remain the same and would save the University time and money.
Change often starts at the base level, and if enough students work to show that they support this initiative, change can and will happen. By enacting this reform, the University not only would show support for its LGBTQ students, faculty and staff, but also would send a message on the state and national level that this prestigious institution is willing to take a stand for equality by providing housing facilities that better suit the needs of LGBTQ individuals.
Although this may take time and effort, and potentially financial resources, the University is already in the process of establishing more dorms while also working to increase student enrollment. Thus, it should not be too difficult to establish some form of gender-neutral housing on Grounds that provides support for a small portion of the overall student population. As a leading public institution, the University ought to continue taking a lead in promoting equality of sexual orientation or gender identity.
Bradlee Palmquist's column appears Tuesdays in The Cavalier Daily. He can be reached at b.palmquist@cavalierdaily.com.
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