In a recent development, the Undergraduate Residential Life Committee (URLC) has agreed to dissolve the gender-blind hall. Based on some of the University’s recent decisions, it would have been reasonable for the student body to take a pessimistic attitude of this announcement. However, the move appears to provide a reason for students to hope once again. Instead of reverting to the status quo, the Administration made the progressive decision to make gender a non-issue in assigning housing for incoming frosh.
With practically no upper-class support for the gender-blind hall, the URLC had no choice but to pull the program. It made little sense for individuals with no interest in the gender-blind hall to comprise a majority of its residents. That the committee took the dilemma and used it to further break down the gender-binary system is commendable.
While the wording for pre-frosh housing applications has yet to be written, the early returns indicate a victory for the transgender community. As students adopt a progressive attitude towards gender issues, as witnessed by the former women’s rugby team changing their name to rugby team, it is encouraging to see the Administration adapting to the student body.
This decision should benefit the entire campus. By offering prospective students the opportunity to live with a member of the opposite gender, the URLC has provided an environment that better reflects what students will deal with once they graduate from Wesleyan. College is meant to provoke students into questioning their surroundings. The issue of gender is one of the most prominent in our society and should be considered by every member of the Wesleyan community. This policy should achieve this goal.
With such an important change, it is equally imperative that the URLC present the new policy in an appropriate light. Pre-frosh should be allowed to decide if it is important for them to live with a member of their gender or not, but they should not be told they may live with a transgender student. This is an occasion that should provide students with an opportunity to examine themselves, not stigmatize a campus minority group.
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