In light of the Jan. 31 ASNMU meeting and the creation of an exploratory committee for gender-neutral housing, I feel it’s appropriate to give the side of a student who is absolutely for gender-neutral housing.
Currently, NMU has no gender-neutral housing options. There are many advantages to allowing students to room with whomever they choose, including the most obvious answer: equality.
Gender-neutral housing is not as complicated as many people make it out to be. How come college students can vote, take out loans, serve in the army and even drink, but we can’t room with a member of the opposite sex? That seems a little backwards to me.
One would think that living in an apartment would mean being able to room with anyone of one’s choosing, but not here at NMU. In the on-campus apartments, the only way to room with a member of the opposite sex is to either be married to them or be their parent. One student said that she chose not to live on campus because she was not allowed live with her fiancé of three years. The university not only lost that couple’s money, but many others’ money who feel the same way.
Michigan is one of the top players when it comes to gender-neutral housing. Currently, a few campuses are gender-neutral, but many are looking into it, such as Michigan State University and Grand Valley State University. The University of Michigan allows transgender students to live with a roommate of the sex they identify with.
There are students who are transgender at every university, and NMU is not excluded. If the housing policy were changed to allow those students to choose who they want to room with, I’m sure more transgender students would chose NMU as their university. That would not only make NMU more accepting, but diversify our community.
While it is obvious that there should already be gender-neutral housing for transgender students, we shouldn’t exclude the other students at NMU either. Some people are just more comfortable around members of the opposite sex, so why shouldn’t they be allowed to live with them?
According to a survey conducted by American Demographics, those 18 to 24 years old are nearly four times as likely as those age 55 and older to have a best friend of the opposite sex. Also, with the new generation of students, many don’t identify with just one sex, or any at all. Choosing a living arrangement for these students is often complicated and ends with the student being unhappy. This can all be solved by creating a gender-neutral housing option.
One argument of the opponents of gender-neutral housing is that since students will be living with others of the opposite sex, there will be more hooking up. If you walk into any dorm on any university’s campus, you will see students hooking up. Obviously rooming with the same sex hasn’t stopped anyone. And, just because two girls or two guys are rooming together, that doesn’t mean they won’t be snuggling at night.
Another issue at NMU would be the bathroom situation. Many schools across the country have community bathrooms, but at NMU we only have suite-style rooms. This would make arranging the living situations a little more complicated, but if all students are comfortable in the end, it is worth the extra elbow grease.
The main point here is this: we’re all adults and as adults, we should be able to choose who we want to live with. If we choose someone and it doesn’t work, then we’ve learned our lesson, but should be our lesson to be learned.
Danny • Feb 18, 2011 at 1:47 pm
Adults? Adults who game and facebook on the PCs in class. Adults who get stoned drunk in their residence halls. Adults who text non stop. Adults who depend on their parents to pay their tuition. Most are not adults. Their just kids who want to live their GFs and BFs. Your not an adult until your on your own paying your own bills and acting like an adult. College is not the real world. It does not encourage adult behavior.
Snow White • Feb 17, 2011 at 7:43 pm
As for this article, I disagree with the author in respects to rooming with the opposite sex for the heck of it.
As he or she states: “The main point here is this: we’re all adults and as adults, we should be able to choose who we want to live with.”
If you’re adult enough to make that statement or agree with it, then you’re adult enough to live off-campus.
@Jess my guess is the majority of students living on campus aren’t engaged and there’s always a waiting list for dorms/apartments so I don’t think NMU is missing out on money. I agree that you shouldn’t make your marriage date sooner just to live on campus but I understand why NMU has same sex living and hasn’t changed it yet.
I could only guess why NMU has had same sex living for so long, but maybe it would do us some good to hear the housing departments side of this issue!
Snow White • Feb 17, 2011 at 7:28 pm
@Jess
I agree with your first comment about scared parents. But Gender blind housing is not aimed towards couples or relationships, From what I’ve read Gender blind housing is aimed at gay students uncomfortable with same sex roommates and visa versa. There a lot of heterosexual people out there openminded about homosexuality, but there are still a lot of heterosexual people who are not! This gender blind housing is important to keep students at NMU feeling comfortable and safe. Another article I read mentioned a university downstate that has Gender blind housing and it is used on a need basis only, its not a free for all.
Chris • Feb 17, 2011 at 9:43 am
The thing about the suite-style bathrooms in NMU’s housing: they all have doors. If people are respectful of their roommates, they set ground rules about their comfort levels of having people in the bathroom while they are showering/using the toilet, and then follow them.
Keep pushing this, Robyn. It’s good that you’re giving a voice to this issue.
Martin • Feb 16, 2011 at 8:27 am
Jess nailed it. When you are grown up enough to make adult decisions and live with adult consequences, you are grown up enough to live off campus, or at least out of the dorms.
Jess B • Feb 15, 2011 at 9:52 pm
In many ways I agree with this idea. Perhaps not in the dorms but definitely in the apartments. If the school wants to try to keep girls and guys apart in the dorms I have no problem with that and I’m sure it would help keep concerned parents calm however the apartments are different. I worked on welcome crew. Parents get scared enough by guys living two doors down from their little girls so trying to explain that they have a male roommate or suite mate would be a headache. The apartments are a different game all together and should be gender blind. The only reason I moved off campus was because NMU wouldn’t allow me to live with my fiance. We’ve been together three years now and practically lived together in the dorms anyway. When the dorms didn’t suit our lifestyle anymore we had to look elsewhere. It would have been nice to stay on campus but the only way that was allowed is if we were already married. I’m 21 years old. Engaged yes. Ready to get married tomorrow just to live on campus- definitely not. I think its something NMU could look into even if its just making the apartments gender-blind.