Although college students nationwide, including at Boston University, are calling for gender-neutral housing, BU officials said there is no need for this type of specialty housing at this time.
Gender-neutral housing provides members of the LGBTQ community with an option go better accommodate their lifestyle, said Natalie Siddique, a College of Arts and Sciences freshman.
“BU is home to a large, diverse, and progressive student body; meaning that all students have different lifestyles, different perspectives, and different needs,” Siddique, a CAS Student Union senator, said in an email.
Siddique said the lack of gender-neutral housing at BU could put certain students into living situations that they feel uncomfortable with but are unable to switch out of because of a lack of options offered by the university.
“Students should feel comfortable and safe in their living environment, but the fact that the university lacks a gender-neutral housing policy suggests that some students are forced to live in situations that do not align with their specific circumstances,” Siddique said.
BU spokesman Colin Riley said while the safety and security of students is paramount, there does not seem to be a demand for gender-neutral housing at this time.
“Any proposal from the student union on changes to housing policy would be presented before the Dean of Students office for consideration,” Riley said. “However the need is not great enough right now to accommodate.”
Union Advocacy Chair Amy Mahler and Siddique have been working with representatives from the Women’s Resource Center to craft a proposal for the administration which incorporates research as well as a three-year pilot plan to gradually implement the policy on the BU campus.
“There needs to be options on campus for students within multiple budgets struggling to find an identity or for students who want to live with friends,” Mahler, a College of Communication senior, said. “We need to make sure no one is being ostracized for their identity.”
In the first year there would be test floors with select students in the Student Village with separate rooms, but sharing the same spaces, Mahler said.
In year two, the administration would open the option for upperclassmen and in year three a gender-neutral housing option would be open for all students.
Union President Arthur Emma , a CAS senior, said gender-neutral housing continues to be the subject of contentious debate, and at least one of the top administrators involved in considering the proposal has admitted to be in favor of the proposal.
“It’s [the current housing policy] really leaves out a group of people socially and financially if you don’t feel comfortable living on campus the only option is to move off campus,” said Sarah Merriman, a member of the WRC and a junior in CAS.
“Gender-neutral housing is a better option for students and it’s not that BU is necessarily denying the idea, but they just aren’t ready for it at this time.”
Siddique said that the fact that “all of our peer institutions” have implemented gender-neutral housing in some way indicates that a change needs to be made in BU’s housing policy.
Northeastern University currently offers gender-neutral housing in apartment-style suites to upperclassmen students, according to their housing website.
Similarly, Emerson College offers suite-style gender-neutral housing to all students expect freshmen, unless the student identifies as transgender, according to the college’s housing website.
Harvard University also offers it to students on a case by case basis.
It took BU’s administration five years, from 2002 to 2007, to agree on revisions to a 19-year guest policy that restricted students’ access to other dorms and required them to go through a two-day process, often involving co-hosts, to have an overnight non-BU guest.
BU students said they believe that while a policy change is needed, they do not believe it will happen in the near future.
“Even though I would love the idea of gender-neutral housing, it is extremely difficult because a boy and a girl could live together while pretending that one is gay, when they are in reality dating and if they were to ever break up, then all hell would break loose and it would be a huge mess,” said CAS freshman David LeHouillier.
“But, we do pay $12,000 a year to live here so I guess we should also have the right to choose who we want to live with.”
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