Gender neutral housing movement spreads

David Foregger '11 sends in news that the University of Chicago is the latest to offer gender-neutral housing to its upperclasspeople students, linking to an article originally from the Chicago Tribune:

The pilot program allowing male and female students to sleep in the same room will start next month. It's not intended for romantic couples, but they won't be excluded because the university won't ask students why they want to live together. The proposal was a student-led initiative, university officials said.

Coed dorm rooms are allowed at more than 30 campuses nationwide, but they have generally been socially liberal institutions, such as Wesleyan University, Oberlin College and Oregon State University. The policy is a departure at the U. of C., which has a no-nonsense, nose-in-a-book reputation.

The program won't apply to freshmen, and students won't need permission from their parents to live in "open housing." A letter announcing the program went out to parents last week.

"In today's day and age, it's not really fair to discriminate based on gender anymore," said Asha Woodall, 19, a sophomore at the U. of C. and a supporter of the plan. "Sexuality is more of a spectrum."

While the University of Chicago is taking a great step forward, it's important to note that, like at Wesleyan, there still aren't any satisfactory options for incoming freshmen who don't feel comfortable being automatically placed with a roommate of the same biological sex (but perhaps a different gender).

The University of Chicago is only one among many schools to change its gendered housing policy within the last year. According to genderblind.org, Northeastern also recently announced such a change.

Genderblind.org continues to remain a great resource to keep on top of gender-neutral/genderblind housing issues and news, ranging from the latest schools to adopt progressive policies to noting that "the Obama-Biden transition project has announced a non-discrimination policy that includes 'gender identity.'" They also have a Facebook group to keep up-to-date on issues and to network with other activists.

Update (12/25): An anonymous commenter corrects me about current Wesleyan policy:

we have gender-neutral housing for frosh. any frosh can select "gender-neutral", and then their gender will not be taken into account when determining their roommate.

Oops - guess it's changed since I last heard anything about it a year and a half ago. Awesome!

Spring semester housing - check out program houses!

Are you abroad? Do you hate your current housemates? Do you just really love being well or being open? Consider living in a program house next semester! Open House and Well-Being House both have students going abroad, and are recruiting applicants for the spring semester.

Emily Troll '10 at Well-Being House says:

Well-Being House has spaces for new members next semester! Join a community with lots of cooking, crafts, conversation, movies and music. Email etroll@wes with questions about the house, or to ask for an application. Thanks!

And Molly McFee '10 from Open House sends in:

If you don't know Open House, here's the official writeup:

Open House is a safe space for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Transsexual, Queer, Questioning, Flexual, Asexual, Genderfuck, Polyamourous, Bondage/Disciple, Dominance/Submission, Sadism/Masochism (LGBTTQQFAGPBDSM) communities and for people of sexually or gender dissident communities. The goals of Open House include generating interest in a celebration of queer life from the social to the political to the academic. Open House works to create a Wesleyan community that appreciates the variety and vivacity of gender, sex and sexuality.

Email mmcfee@wes if you're interested in applying.

Housing floor plans

GRS just got a little less painful. An astute Wesleying reader writes:

On the ResLife page for housing, they have now published FLOOR PLANS of many residence halls and apartment units. The link for residence halls is here and the link for apartments is here.

From these pages, one can select the building they are interested in and view the blueprints as pdf files, which are pretty accurately drawn in my opinion. They have not uploaded senior woodframes or freshman only residence halls. However, it is possible they may come up later this week or as room selection gets closer.

Wow, this is something people have been pushing for for years now! Thanks, Reslife!

WestCo accepting applications for housing

Ivan Maulana '11 writes:

We would like to invite every rising sophomore cat to come apply to live in westco next year. it's not quite programme housing and not quite dormitory living but "community-based rocking". we could wax about the perks of living in westco, but winter it is too cold and the bed looks warm. anyhow, as we on this side of foss hill say, westco is the bestco. applications opened on friday and are due by the 29th (leap day). to access the application, go to My Student Portfolio>Student Life at Wesleyan>Room Selection. hurry and get on the westco train before it leaves and you're hanging on with your legs dragging over the rails.

Graduate from Wesleyan, live in a cubicle?

Like so many Wesleyan students who move to NYC following graduation, Nina Rubin '01 was met with the challenge of finding affordable housing. Read about her unique solution to New York's housing crunch here. And you thought GRS was bad.

A minimalistic kitchen

For graduates and rising seniors, Mark Bittman (my all-time favorite chef) has a great article and video on a cheap kitchen setup. His version will cost about $200-$300 depending on accessories. I'd argue for a 30 dollar microwave too - those things can be pretty handy.

[A No-Frills Kitchen Still Cooks]

Hate your roommate?

Alpha Delt still has 3 singles open for the spring semester! If you're interested, e-mail or gently prod Rob Boyd '08 at rcboyd(at)wesleyan.edu. Also of note: A single in Alpha Delt is the cheapest single on campus. Freshmen, unfortunately, need not apply.

Housing Facts

Number of Freshmen living in Triples Fall 2005: 0

Number of Freshmen living in Triples Fall 2006: 66

Number of Sophomores Reslife annually expects to be homeless all summer: 20-30

Number of Sophomores who were homeless this summer: over 100

Number of Students University Wanted Living Off-Campus: 0

Number of Students Currently Off-campus: 30

Number of Program Houses Wesleyan Hoped to Sell: 4 (Film House, Science House, French House and Japanese House)

Number of Said Houses Still being Used: 3

Number of Students who went abroad in Fall 2005: 154

Number of Students who went abroad in Fall 2006: 112

Surplus Staying instead of Going: 42

Number of Students the Study Abroad Office predicts is abroad at any given time: approximately 225 (35% of junior class)

(Er, um, yeah, see, might have something to do with a housing crunch when the University's strategic plan includes pre-9/11 study abroad estimates.)

Data collected from Argus.