Planning a wedding ceremony and post-nuptial life is never easy, but Boston University students taking a walk down the aisle face a unique set of problems, ranging from housing issues to keeping up with their studies, they said.’
‘BU Housing does not provide on-campus housing for married couples, spousal equivalents, or dependent children,’ the BU housing website states.’
The site provides links to off-campus housing options, which it does not regulate and which are therefore viable coed options for married or engaged students.
The BU Student Union is pushing for gender-neutral housing, Union President James Sappenfield said.
Union has gender-neutral housing on their agenda primarily to create a more comfortable atmosphere for transgender and LGBT students, but it would benefit married and engaged students by allowing coed on-campus housing, Sappenfield, a College of Arts and Sciences and School of Management senior, said.
‘I think for at least married students, we should take a modern approach to housing,’ Sappenfield said, ‘We really are all adults here.’
Director of Housing Marc Robillard said BU has no immediate plans to update policy.
‘It’s unclear to me if that will be considered or not,’ Robillard said. ‘I don’t think there’s any reason not to have a discussion about it. But I don’t think anything is imminent.’
Robillard said demand is low for a changed policy.
‘We don’t have a huge demand or even a small demand of students indicating they want to live with a member of the opposite gender,’ he said.’ ‘ ‘
Sargent College of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences senior Nira Rubin said she is engaged to Will Shain, a junior in CAS. They will be living off campus together next year while Shain completes his undergraduate studies, Rubin said.
‘They don’t offer coed, on-campus housing, which is frustrating,’ she said.’
Caitlin Lashley, in her fourth year of six in the occupational therapy program in Sargent, will be married before she completes her program.
‘We had originally planned on getting married after I graduate,’ she said, ‘I thought about it and decided I love him.”
Though she was ready to commit, Lashley said she has to wait for her fianc’eacute; to graduate from U.S. Military Academy at West Point before they can wed, she said.
‘He’s not allowed to marry,’ she said, citing West Point policy.
Her fianc’eacute; will graduate in the spring, and they will marry in May.
CAS senior Cameron Sara Gorman said she is also in a long distance engagement with her fianc’eacute;, who goes to school in Ohio.
After four years of dating, Gorman and her fianc’eacute; got engaged in January.
‘I mean, we had been dating for so long, and we knew we were going to be together forever,’ she said, ‘I guess it’s one of those things.’
‘I guess I’m a little bit nervous,’ Gorman said of her approaching marriage. ‘A little bit because none of my friends are going through it.’
Though her friends may not be able to relate, she said she has the full support of her family.
‘My mom’s helping me with a lot of stuff,’ Gorman said.
Marrying while still an undergraduate student means classes are still a priority, students said. Juggling planning a marriage and studies can be intimidating.
Gorman planned most of her wedding over the summer, and will plan more over winter break. Lashley used similar time management tactics.
‘This summer was hectic because I tried to get all my planning done so it wouldn’t influence me,’ Lashley said.
Though facing many obstacles, engaged Boston University students said they endure because of the reason they all choose to marry.
‘I guess, love,’ Rubin said.
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