Almost two years ago, the Administration revolutionized policy by allowing incoming freshmen to check off a box requesting placement in gender-neutral housing—not an isolated hall, but a room with a roommate who checked off the same box, regardless of either student’s gender. A year and a half ago, the decision was reversed. Peter Patton infamously declared that he didn’t understand what the gender-neutral option implied; nor did, it seemed, some students who had selected it. All freshmen from the Class of 2008, and then the Class of 2009, were assigned same-sex roommates only.
Now, after persistent efforts by student activist groups, Wesleyan is once again rethinking its stance on gender-neutral housing. The incoming Class of 2010 will be allowed to pursue such housing, provided they not only check off a box but write a short explanation of why they want to live there. The Trans/Gender Group will work with Dean of Student Services Mike Whaley and ResLife Director Fran Koerting on the wording of the explanation form. The idea, the University says, is simply to ensure that students know what they’re signing up for. Fair enough. As long as ResLife or its higher-ups don’t create an obstacle course for students interested in the gender-neutral option, this seems like an appropriate solution. For now.
While weeding out confused prefrosh, the explanation box also renders the status of gender-neutral housing as something anomalous. Freshmen who sign up for a single-sex hall or substance-free housing, for instance, are not asked why. The panacea, it seems, is more information for all incoming freshmen and indeed, freshmen applicants, earlier on. Why not explain what gender-neutral housing is and why Wesleyan has it before students have to decide their fates? This option isn’t yet on the table, because the University worries about what the outside world will think—applicants, parents, trustees, the media. The administration is putting itself on the brink of making a choice. It can allow the schism between its official and unofficial image to widen even further, or it can close that gap by fessing up to what it soon will be: a university that welcomes students of all genders and is willing to learn from them.
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