Press Contact: Eric Eid-Reiner, Reiner_Eric@wheatonma.edu

Wheaton College, in Norton, MA, will soon allow students to room together regardless of gender!  Wheaton’s Vice President of Student Affairs and Dean of Students, Lee Williams approved the proposal on November 2, 2009.  Gender-neutral rooming at Wheaton will be a campus-wide option, excluding the same-sex dorms/halls, which is expected to go into effect spring 2010 for current students and in fall 2010 for incoming students.

Under the new policy, sophomores, juniors, and seniors will continue to be able to choose the person with whom they wish to room, but gender will no longer be a limiting factor.  Information on gender-neutral rooming will be included in the mailings sent out to first-year and transfer students during the room selection process, which will invite them to express their preference for a gender-neutral room on their housing questionnaire.  Students will not be required to “justify” or explain their roommate preferences.  This means that students who are transgender, intersex, or otherwise do not identify within the gender binary, will no longer have to decide between concealing their identity or “out-ing” themselves in order to have a rooming situation with which they are comfortable.

Since releasing the first version of their proposal in April 2009, the authors of the proposal have engaged Wheaton’s Student Government Association (SGA), administrators, and the campus community on this issue, to make sure that people were informed and able to ask questions and share their views.  The response has been very positive!  On April 14, 2009, Wheaton’s SGA voted unanimously to support the proposal.  The Wheaton SGA voted to endorse the approved version on November 3, 2009.

Gabe Amo, a senior and President of the SGA, has been an active advocate of the proposal from early on.  Amo explains: “This proposal demonstrates that the power, passion, and commitment of students can produce incredible rewards.  I’m so proud of my fellow students who have really helped to make the Wheaton Community as inclusive as our mission states. If the life of a student can be improved in a true recognition of one’s identity, regardless of sexual orientation or any other difference, then a college is doing its job. Today, because of the hard work of a dedicated group, Wheaton is a much better place to be for all.”

Eric Eid-Reiner, a junior and former Vice President of The Alliance at Wheaton (the campus LGBTIQSA group), spearheaded the effort to get gender-neutral rooming at Wheaton and was one of the authors of the proposal.  A group of twelve students are credited as authors, and many others contributed to the proposal’s success through their interest, collaboration, and advocacy.

At the November 3 SGA meeting, Eid-Reiner said: “After more than a year of brainstorming, editing, writing, meeting, discussing, and more discussing, we have a proposal that we should all be proud of — that really accomplishes our goal of a more equitable housing policy.  Our new housing policy reflects Wheaton’s commitment to being an inclusive living and learning environment, and our Core Values of being ‘rooted in tradition, growing into the future,’ and being a community that is ‘committed to gender equality.’”

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Last night, after Yale University administrators backed down from a plan to implement gender-neutral housing for the 2009-10 school year, over a dozen students braved the freezing weather to stage an outdoor ‘Sleep-in’. Setting up tents in the snow and ice of Yale’s Cross Campus quad, with signs that read “The Only Gender Neutral Housing at Yale”, members of the group Students for Housing Equality at Yale tenaciously demonstrated the need for an immediate change in policy. “The sleep-in is meant to protest the type of metaphorical displacement [that the] LGBT community and allies, are faced by this decision,” Rachel Schiff ‘10, the LGBT cooperative coordinator told the Yale Daily News.

Update: To find out more about Yale’s gender-neutral initiative, check out yale.genderblind.org.

The State University of New York (SUNY) at Geneseo has just announced a gender-neutral pilot program for one residence hall during the 2009-2010 academic year. This option will be available for this upcoming housing selection process. Now, students at SUNY Geneseo will be able to share bathrooms, common areas, and individual bedrooms. Previously, mixed-gender living arrangements were only available in apartment-style housing. Dean of Residential Living Celia Easton told The Lamron that the pilot serves two goals: “To provide a living space for friends to share regardless of gender and to adequately accommodate students whose gender identity does not correspond with a conventional label.”

SUNY Geneseo is part of the 64-campus state university system of New York. The largest comprehensive system of universities and colleges in the country, SUNY has nearly 400,000 undergraduate students. NSGC has been proud to work with several campuses within the SUNY system. Geneseo is the first SUNY campus to allow students to share the same individual room assignment. The editorial board of The Lamron said, “the policy is just the latest progressive measure in a long line of social improvements that began in the ’60s with civil rights and have been carried into the new millennium.”

The National Center for Transgender Equality (NCTE) and the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force have teamed up to collect data on discrimination against trans people in housing, employment, public accommodations, healthcare, education, family life and criminal justice.

In the wake of several murders of non-conforming youth in 2008 and the continued legislative efforts to pass a federal non-discrimination bill that includes gender-identity and expression, the two groups have collaborated with Pennsylvania State University’s Center for the Study of Higher Education to collect and analyze data. The survey will be helpful in developing better policies and practices for many areas of life. 

If you identify as gender non-conforming, transgender, or gender queer, take the survey! 

Emilia Dunham, Northeastern University ‘10

Major: Sociology

Minor: Women’s Studies / Law, Policy & Society

What motivated you to work on a gender-neutral housing campaign at Northeastern?

“Personally, housing has been a huge issue of mine since coming to college. I was vaguely aware of Gender Neutral Housing programs at other schools only after the middle of my first year. I realized the need for more options, particularly for transgender students.During the housing application process, I approached Residential Life about options for transgender students, and found they were remarkably limited. The next year I publically spoke about my housing experiences at a student/faculty panel I helped organize. By my third year, the issue of Gender Neutral Housing became a hot topic as it reached the Student Government Association (SGA). 

 There were some representatives who worked on a proposal, but there was significant opposition from most other SGA representatives and administrators due to cultural and logistical questions.Instituting any new policy can be an intimidating and monumental task especially depending on the schools […] One thing that worked for us was even though we didn’t know many administrators very well, was that we worked with SGA leaders who were able to speak with administrators to let them know what the needs are and what the University can do to help […] sometimes stories of individuals’ housing situations and/or letters of support from students, faculty, alumni and parents can be helpful given the situation.”  

What’s next for you and/or your organization?

“I am currently the full-year Co-Chair of NUBiLaGA (the Northeastern University Bisexual Lesbian Gay Transgender Intersex Queer Questioning and Allied Student Organization). We are working on requesting a budget for a paid-staff Director for our Resource Room, which we acquired last year to aid us in collaboration on campus in order to ensure the furthering of GLBT inclusion on campus. […] I’m also part of plans to develop a “Gender and Sexuality” component within the Women’s Studies Program, where I work. Other goals are in advocating for Northeastern to adopt a clear non-discrimination policy for gender and expression.We will continue programming and planning meetings for our members and promote inclusion and a safe space at all levels for everyone regardless of not only sexuality and gender identity, but also cultural background, national origin, race, religion, politics and ability.”  

 After two years, the University of Chicago decided last month to allow upper-class students to select a roommate of any gender in all campus housing, except those that are already same-sex only. The pilot program, called “Open Housing” will be implemented in January 2009 with full implementation expected by Fall 2009. The University of Chicago says that, “The policies and experiences of these and other institutions (with gender-neutral housing) were helpful in guiding our decision-making.” Referring to the successful policy change, Antonia Clifford, Director of the UChicago’s Queers and Associates told the Chicago Maroon, “[The outcome says to me] ‘this isn’t just an issue for transgender students, but all students.’”

Over in Boston, Northeastern University’s Resident Student Association announced that gender-neutral housing will be piloted in one building beginning in the 2009-2010 academic year with the hope of extending the program to other halls in the future.The University of Chicago and Northeastern have undergraduate populations of 4,900 and 15,000, respectively.

Genderblind housing campaigns continue to spread as Yale University and Columbia University join other Ivy League institutions in advocating for affirmative policies for all students, particularly for its transgender and gay communities.  Columbia’s student newspaper editorial board recently endorsed more inclusive housing options, saying: “The University has long demonstrated its commitment to fostering an environment in which students can feel welcome and secure. More and more universities across the U.S. acknowledge the good sense of gender-neutral housing, and Columbia should not delay in joining their ranks.”Some other college movements include Vassar College, Washington State University, and the University of Wisconsin-Madison.The National Student Genderblind Campaign is happy to add Lake Forest College to the growing list of colleges and universities with gender-neutral housing. NSGC continues to reach out and work with all institutions—from large university-systems to small liberal arts colleges. Check out our new printable advocacy kit!

Last year, NSGC was one of the first national organizations to join United ENDA, a coalition of groups committed to federal non-discrimination legislation that includes gender-identity and expression alongside sexual orientation. As a grassroots, student-led organization, we also encourage students and administrators to establish inclusive non-discrimination policies at their institutions—affirming the rights of all students, faculty, and staff.

In addition, the report comes with a Toolkit that offers great tips on how to take actions on campus. Currently, GPAC says that 56 schools have some form of gender-neutral housing. At this time, the National Student Genderblind Campaign defines gender-neutral housing in its most inclusive sense—the option to live in the same room with a student of any gender without any additional considerations. However, we recognize that gender-neutral housing can take place in many different ways—from theme housing, special interest housing, and in co-ed suites and apartments. As the only grassroots organization focused on gender-neutral housing, NSGC has and continues to work with colleges and universities of diverse backgrounds, regions, sizes, and demographics. Our goal is to implement gender-neutral housing in the least restrictive way for each institution.

“The National Student Genderblind Campaign is thrilled to see the progress colleges have made over the past year and applaud GPAC’s work. Three years ago, when we first started out there were only a handful of schools with gender-neutral housing and gender-identity & expressive inclusive policies. Now, it has become the norm. We are proud to have been cited in GenderYouth’s research and continue to work as partners on this important issue. All students, faculty, and staff deserve to be safe, included, and respected where they work, learn, and live,” says Co-Founder and Associate Director Jeffrey Chang.

Check out the Index and Toolkit at www.gpac.org/genius. Also, you can visit our Resources section for additional information.

Also, check out the great work of the Gender Public Advocacy Coalition. Each year, their GenderYOUTH program compiles a index of colleges and universities that calls for schools to include the inclusion of gender identity and expression in non-discrimination policies and practices. Join this year’s campaign and hold your school accountable! Check out: www.gpac.org/youth/genius

Keep checking us out as we prepare to revamp our website and resources for Fall 2008! If you have any suggestions, e-mail us at jeffrey@genderblind.org and david@genderblind.org.

Look for other articles about gender-neutral rooming and NSGC in upcoming news articles! In light of recent coverage, we will be adding a recent media section to our site this summer. Stay tuned!

To read the AP article, check out: http://www.usatoday.com/news/education/2008-05-02-coed-rooms_N.htm

Just one week after front-page coverage featuring the National Student Genderblind Campaign in the Boston Globe, Stanford University becomes the latest university to approve gender-neutral housing. The one-year pilot program for upper-class and graduate students will be offered in the 2008-2009 academic year in five residences. Stanford emphasized that this is part of an effort to “better serve transgender students and to offer more choices to students who want to live with friends of the opposite sex.” Greg Boardman, Vice Provost for Student Affairs said, “Stanford takes great pride in the variety of housing alternatives available to students and in the rich residential experience that results when communities are centered on principles of diversity and respect for individual differences.”

For more information, please see:

http://news-service.stanford.edu/news/2008/april9/gender-040908.html