After approximately a month of review and deliberation, the Boston University Questrom School of Business’ third floor bathroom has changed from men’s and women’s single-stall restrooms to two gender-neutral restrooms. The new sign beside the bathroom door reads “All-Gender Restroom,” along with the statement, “Anyone can use this restroom regardless of gender identity or expression.”
Questrom joins the School of Theology, the Elie Wiesel Center for Jewish Studies and the newly renovated Sumner M. Redstone Building and Law Tower as locations that house gender-neutral restrooms on BU’s Charles River Campus.
Questrom senior Zachary Robinson said he and his teammates, Zach Cracknell, India Mazzarelli, Alex Paroda, Halle Gecawich and Benji Hadar, initially presented the all-gender restroom proposal to Questrom Assistant Dean of Undergraduate Programs Rachel Reiser on Sept. 30. Reiser then forwarded the initiative to Maria Anderson, Questrom’s senior associate dean of finance and administration, and Questrom Dean Kenneth Freeman, Robinson said. With the support of the deans, the proposal was approved by BU administration and the “All-Gender Restroom” sign was added 33 days later.
Robinson said the all-gender restroom serves as a safe environment for those who identify as gender-neutral or transgender.
“Of the people who have a problem with a men’s and women’s bathroom, the vast majority of them have experienced some kind of discrimination in the bathroom,” Robinson said. “Whether it’s a rude comment, or in a surprisingly high number of cases, physical violence, specifically with transgender students.”
Robinson, a student in Questrom professor Rachel Spooner’s law and ethics class, said the Social Change Project assigned in Spooner’s class inspired him to change the single-stall bathrooms to gender-neutral ones. The project splits the class into teams of students who must “implement a social change activity, effort, or project within any environment or organization of their choice,” the class syllabus stated.
For the project, Robinson said, he and his teammates chose to tackle the issue of gender equality within Questrom. Robinson said the team hoped the newly-established all-gender restrooms would spark a greater conversation about student diversity in the BU community and encourage students to act upon their beliefs.
“All you have to do is send a few emails … but it doesn’t take a ton of effort to have a very large change,” Robinson said. “You hear people all across campus complain about little things. My philosophy is kind of like, if you’re complaining about something and you can fix it so easily, why don’t you do it?”
Spooner said Questrom now provides a new welcoming “feel” for the LGBT community, compared to the conservative culture that generally exists in a business school.
“I cannot tell you how many student, faculty and alums have posted on my Facebook feed in the last couple days excited about the new bathroom. I am proud of how far Questrom has come in recent years on this issue,” Spooner said in an email. “The bathroom change makes [the LGBT community] feel more welcome, raises awareness of the community and best of all, gets us all talking about student diversity.”
Several students said BU should place more all-gender restrooms around campus to support the community’s needs.
Ethan Ausburn, a sophomore in the College of Communication, said BU should consider the concentration and distribution of students requiring gender-neutral restrooms before deciding where to place future all-gender restrooms.
“It seems a bit ridiculous to me. I don’t think it’s necessary. I think there’s a small group of people who that fits the bill for,” Ausburn said. “It alienates the rest of people who don’t necessitate gender-neutral bathrooms.”
Marshall Chen, a senior in COM from China, said all-gender restrooms are really common in China and having one in Questrom seems “pretty normal,” but BU needs more around campus.
“It’s just more convenient and people should just be more accepting,” Chen said. “It’s not that much of a big deal if you really think about it.”
Gabriela Hopkins, a freshman in Questrom, said she did not know all-gender restrooms were something present on campus and appreciates the opportunity students have to create real impact.
“We’re a liberal school, which is definitely a good thing, and that we welcome all people regardless of who they are,” Hopkins said. “We’re a pretty welcoming community, so I don’t think anyone should look at it negatively.”
