Over one hundred colleges in the United States have opted in to be a part of “gender-neutral” housing where female students can now live in the same room as male students. Not only are public universities starting this trend, but private, Christian colleges are getting involved in coed dorms as well. The University of Pennsylvania, a short trip from Cabrini College, has decided to create gender- neutral dorms. You can find a description of what “gender inclusive” housing means through their residence life website, where there is a nifty video encouraging students to try living with the opposite sex. Sounds crazy right? Maybe not to everybody, but to me, I see a lot of problems.
I mean, I have had some really awkward encounters with forgetting my towel for the shower on an all-girls’ floor, but imagine forgetting your towel and having to ask your male roommate to bring it to you. I would be forever embarrassed. Another issue which I raise is the fact that you could potentially get into a relationship with your opposite sex roommate and now you are living together even though you have only been dating for two weeks. But what happens if you two decide to break up? Now you are living together angry, upset and hurt with a small possibility of moving out of your room.
I think the biggest problem is that guys and girls are so different, and when they share a place together, it is usually for the reason of engagement or marriage. I think this is very premature to have couples living in the same dorm, using the same bathroom, etc. I feel like this is growing up too quickly with the option to live with a random opposite sex roommate when you are only a freshman. I also believe that living with the same sex can help create everlasting friendships and bonds that you might not have living with the opposite sex.
I would never opt into gender-neutral housing because of my personality as well. Women and men are so different physically and mentally and I think that would be a major challenge in living with the opposite sex. I can get very emotional and stressed and if I had a male roommate, he would not understand why I get so sensitive about certain issues. I also would not be afforded the luxury of privacy or comfortability that I would have with another female if I had a male roommate.
Students at Cabrini already know how together with no visitation rules, which will be a rude awakening when they go back home on holidays.
As a resident assistant at Cabrini, I look at this as a huge challenge for other RAs as well. We have to make sure the community we are responsible for is happy, healthy and following the rules set by Cabrini. It would be very difficult doing our job if there were gender neutral dorms. I think there would be more parties, more incidences for sexual assault, more altercations and more disagreements about rooms. Basically this would become an RAs nightmare.
Schools such as Boston University and Stanford have a different outlook on gender-neutral housing. An article published by Rolling Stone said that the reason why Boston University decided to add gender-neutral housing is because of the rising need to house and comfort those who do not identify with the sex they were born with. I can understand their point, and if the need is large, there should be options for LGBT students to choose to live together in a judgment-free environment. I do not, however, think the option for gender-neutral housing is needed for students who just want to live with a possible boyfriend. This is college: a time to focus on education, make friends and create a positive experience for yourself.
