For years, Student Government has advocated for gender-neutral housing options at Boston University. Just when it seemed as though BU would implement initiative at some point in the near future, as SG announced in October, the administration announced it would halt the housing plan indefinitely, bringing BU back to square one.
Why did BU put gender-neutral housing on hold? The administration decided it has a number of other housing priorities to attend to, including preventing freshmen from being placed in Danielsen Hall and providing more housing options for transfer students, SG members announced at its final meeting Sunday.
While it may be important for all freshmen to have the traditional dorming experience and for transfer students to have more housing options available, neither trumps the importance of making sure every student feels safe and secure in his, her or their living space.
One might not look to Danielsen as providing the typical freshman experience — the dorm is located a few blocks off-campus and is mostly comprised of private bathrooms and suites — but most students do not come to BU looking for a traditional campus. In fact, many BU students look to the university’s academic programs, diversity and integration with the city as reasons to matriculate. For a number of students, BU appears to be a safe place for people of various backgrounds, philosophies, sexual orientations and genders. Yet while students appear to push one step forward, from gender-neutral housing to discussing gender-neutral bathrooms, the administration seems intent on taking the university two steps backward.
It is time that BU housing enters the 21st century and accept that its students are not only ready for gender-neutral housing, but adamant about its implementation.
By stalling the initiative, the administration ignores the needs of the transgender population on campus. NASPA, the Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Education, state in a 2010 study that transgender-inclusive policies such as gender-neutral housing, can foster other transgender-positive policies. These policies would not only facilitate more secure living situations for people within the LGBT community, but it would make BU a more open-minded campus.
And that seems to be what students want. SG received about 2,000 student responses in support of the initiative and about 700 signatures. After collecting student responses, personal accounts, statistical information and other details to push the initiative, SG lobbied for the best interests of students and convinced the administration to approve the measure. To back off now is a slight to not only the students who would apply for gender-neutral housing, but also to the members of SG who worked tirelessly to ensure that the initiative would pass.
Gender-neutral housing is available at 92 American colleges and universities, according to the Transgender Law & Policy Institute. Within Boston, institutions such as Emerson University, Harvard University and Tufts University have adopted gender-inclusive housing options.
If Boston University is to live up to its reputation as diverse and open-minded institution, it will have to join the ranks of others who have ensured that students of all sexual orientations and genders have sufficient housing options.
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