Hot Topic (11/6) : Co-ed dorms rooms . . . good idea or not?

[Cafe GroupAdmin]

 Housing pilot program to open gender-neutral housing
Gender-neutral housing to debut next fall
By Kathleen Ronayne

Fifty years ago, males and females at Syracuse University could not live next door to each other. They could not even live on the same floor.

Today, all but one of SU's dormitories is co-ed. The university plans to further this housing evolution with a pilot program in fall 2010 that will allow students to live with a member of the opposite sex.

During the regular housing process, sophomores, juniors and seniors will now have the option of rooming with the opposite sex. Roommates will only be allowed to live in two-person suites and South Campus apartments, said Terra Peckskamp, interim director of the Office of Residence Life.

Seventy-four suites on Main Campus fit the criteria for gender-neutral housing, said Neil Casey, Student Association chief of staff. Two-person suites, including those in Haven and Booth halls, would be available to those interested, ORL officials said.

Students choosing gender-neutral housing will participate in the normal housing selection process that occurs every spring semester. But they will not be given any more priority for room selection than students who choose traditional rooming, Peckskamp said.

"If it's truly gender-neutral, then your gender selection choice of roommate shouldn't have an impact, one way or the other," she said.

Amit Taneja, associate director of SU's LGBT Resource Center, said that SU officials should not be in charge of choosing students' roommates based on gender.

"Who are we to say you need to live with a male or you need to live with a female?" Taneja said.

In 2006, the university updated its non-discrimination policy to protect students from being discriminated against on the basis of gender identity and expression, Taneja said. These changes were made to be more welcoming to transgender students, faculty and staff. The new housing option will be inclusive as well.

An official policy for the pilot program has not yet been set by the university, but will most likely be released some time in November, Peckskamp said.

The university is gathering feedback from as many interested student groups as possible to try and make the program successful, Taneja said.

"At the end of the day this policy is coming as a result of the request made by students and parents," Taneja said, "and it's just one of many different options that will be available to students to best meet their housing needs."

Others outside of the LGBT community have requested gender-neutral housing, including parents and heterosexual students, SU officials said. ORL and the Parent's Office have seen complaints from parents looking to room their children together, regardless of their gender.

It is widely accepted now for students to have best friends of the opposite gender who they would feel comfortable living with, Taneja said.

"It's a sign of changing times," he said. "We know our students are already doing that when they go off campus. People want to live with their friends, that's what it's about."

The largest concern SU officials have heard in regard to gender-neutral housing has to do with romantic couples living together, Peckskamp said. If a couple were to break up, housing would have to deal with more intense roommate conflicts, she said.

"We don't foresee it as being a lot of romantic couples," she said. "But at the same time we don't want to go in with our blinders on and think it isn't a possibility."

But other institutions that already have a gender-neutral option have said this is not as much of a problem as people may think, Peckscamp and Taneja said.

Another concern is protest from students who may be uncomfortable living near students who choose this option. Residence advisors who will have gender-neutral roommates on his or her floor will be given extra training to deal with non-traditional conflicts that may arise, Peckskamp said.

"We'll make sure that they have support to deal with that roommate conflict as well as any community impact that might occur," she said.

* * *

What do you think about gender-neutral housing for college students?

Would you want your child to have a roommate of the opposite gender?

Do you think this is a good or bad idea?

[Mergath]

This would have been great when I was in school.  Anything that keeps you from having to make that late night/early morning walk of shame is fine by me.

Seriously though, I have conflicting thoughts on this one.  On the one hand, I think it's great that colleges are trying to be gender-neutral.  I would rather have lived with a guy, I think- they're much less catty than many women.  On the other hand, college students are horny.  Really, really horny.  And drunk a lot, too.  There might end up being a lot of requests for room transfers due to drunken, it-seemed-like-a-good-idea-at-the-time sex.

[NearSeattleMom]

I'm totally old-fashioned.  I don't even like the idea of co-ed dorms!  I would never want my kids to have roommates of the opposite sex in college dorm rooms.  I think it's just asking for trouble. 

[hsteele]

Its a college. We aren't talking about a HS boarding school. These are adults who are free to make their own choices. Why are the moral police trying to tell grown adults who they can live with?

[hsteele]

I am assuming this rooming situation is completely optional. And your kids will be adults by then. It won't be up to you.

Quoting NearSeattleMom:

I'm totally old-fashioned.  I don't even like the idea of co-ed dorms!  I would never want my kids to have roommates of the opposite sex in college dorm rooms.  I think it's just asking for trouble. 

[Eveshalloween]

as for me, i wouldnt want to share a room with a guy! no trust there n it would be a lil strange..

[hsteele]

I wouldn't either. i ended up with crushes on all of my male friends. Living with them would not be a good idea for me (when I was single). I wouldn't have a problem with my daughter living in a coed dorm suite though. I would make sure she was stocked with condoms though.

Quoting Eveshalloween:

as for me, i wouldnt want to share a room with a guy! no trust there n it would be a lil strange..

[mommibee]

If you are an adult I think you have the right to choose who you want to room with.  People are going to find a way to have sex no matter what.  And rooming with the opposite sex does not mean you are going to end up sleeping with them anyway.  I have a lot of male friends and I don't want to sleep with them. 

When I was in college it was very strict.  My friend lived in an all girls dorm and the guys had to leave the dorm by 10 pm.  Well, that didn't mean that all of them did.  There was a lot of ways to sneak them out during the night.  And no, we weren't sleeping with them.  There should be dorms that allow coed living and dorms that don't.  You should be able to choose which dorm you would like to stay in.  And if the parents don't like the idea then they can discuss that with there adult child. 

When you go to college there are many opportunities that allow you to do what you want.  And these young adults are going to always find a way to cross the line no matter what rules are instituted.

[CSRodriguez]

If I as a parent have done my job  then  my offspring is now an Adult and it is time for him or her to  go out into the world ,   I  hope  they make the right  choices and  protect themselves from    harm on all levels.

then I cross my fingers ....

Since they are Adults at this level  I  have no issue with it.  Now that doesn't mean  my nerves  dont flutter a bit at my  " childs " first attempt at   co- living  but .

have to cut the apron strings   

[PamR]

Co-ed dorms, ok.  Co-ed rooms, nope.    Add alcohol and the freedom to do as you please for the first time, and you're asking for trouble.

[CSRodriguez]

 but they are adults are they not  ?  

Quoting PamR:

Co-ed dorms, ok.  Co-ed rooms, nope.    Add alcohol and the freedom to do as you please for the first time, and you're asking for trouble.