Fifty years ago, males and females at Syracuse University could not live next door to each other. They could not even live on the same floor.

Today, all but one of SU’s dormitories is co-ed. The university plans to further this housing evolution with a pilot program in fall 2010 that will allow students to live with a member of the opposite sex.

During the regular housing process, sophomores, juniors and seniors will now have the option of rooming with the opposite sex. Roommates will only be allowed to live in two-person suites and South Campus apartments, said Terra Peckskamp, interim director of the Office of Residence Life.

Seventy-four suites on Main Campus fit the criteria for gender-neutral housing, said Neil Casey, Student Association chief of staff. Two-person suites, including those in Haven and Booth halls, would be available to those interested, ORL officials said.

Students choosing gender-neutral housing will participate in the normal housing selection process that occurs every spring semester. But they will not be given any more priority for room selection than students who choose traditional rooming, Peckskamp said.

‘If it’s truly gender-neutral, then your gender selection choice of roommate shouldn’t have an impact, one way or the other,’ she said.

Amit Taneja, associate director of SU’s LGBT Resource Center, said that SU officials should not be in charge of choosing students’ roommates based on gender.

‘Who are we to say you need to live with a male or you need to live with a female?’ Taneja said.

In 2006, the university updated its non-discrimination policy to protect students from being discriminated against on the basis of gender identity and expression, Taneja said. These changes were made to be more welcoming to transgender students, faculty and staff. The new housing option will be inclusive as well.

An official policy for the pilot program has not yet been set by the university, but will most likely be released some time in November, Peckskamp said.

The university is gathering feedback from as many interested student groups as possible to try and make the program successful, Taneja said.

‘At the end of the day this policy is coming as a result of the request made by students and parents,’ Taneja said, ‘and it’s just one of many different options that will be available to students to best meet their housing needs.’

Others outside of the LGBT community have requested gender-neutral housing, including parents and heterosexual students, SU officials said. ORL and the Parent’s Office have seen complaints from parents looking to room their children together, regardless of their gender.

It is widely accepted now for students to have best friends of the opposite gender who they would feel comfortable living with, Taneja said.

‘It’s a sign of changing times,’ he said. ‘We know our students are already doing that when they go off campus. People want to live with their friends, that’s what it’s about.’

The largest concern SU officials have heard in regard to gender-neutral housing has to do with romantic couples living together, Peckskamp said. If a couple were to break up, housing would have to deal with more intense roommate conflicts, she said.

‘We don’t foresee it as being a lot of romantic couples,’ she said. ‘But at the same time we don’t want to go in with our blinders on and think it isn’t a possibility.’

But other institutions that already have a gender-neutral option have said this is not as much of a problem as people may think, Peckscamp and Taneja said.

Another concern is protest from students who may be uncomfortable living near students who choose this option. Residence advisors who will have gender-neutral roommates on his or her floor will be given extra training to deal with non-traditional conflicts that may arise, Peckskamp said.

‘We’ll make sure that they have support to deal with that roommate conflict as well as any community impact that might occur,’ she said.

kronayne@syr.edu

Published on October 19, 2009 at 12:00 pm