The first gender-inclusive housing option at Washington University was made available in 2008 on the North Side; six years later, the only gender-inclusive housing options remain limited to the North Side and to off-campus housing. In simplest terms, it has taken the University far too long to expand its gender-inclusive housing options. As such, the Diversity Affairs Council (DAC) believes that gender-inclusive housing should be made available for the entire student body—including first-year students—starting in the fall of 2015. This will provide the University with enough time to research the gender-inclusive housing options available at peer institutions and then create and implement a housing policy that will better meet the growing and changing needs of Washington University’s diverse students.

The DAC believes that gender-inclusive housing is not an issue pertaining to certain identity groups but rather to our entire community as a whole. Choosing housing should not require students to disclose information about aspects of their identity, and students should be free to live with whoever makes them feel most comfortable and safe. We as a community will become more inclusive when students feel completely safe where and with whom they live. Thus, creating and implementing a gender-inclusive housing policy would help create an environment which acknowledges, appreciates and respects the diversity of the student body. More specifically, it would help make the University a more inclusive space for LGBTQIA students, students in the process of discovering their gender identity and/or sexual orientation, students who feel uncomfortable rooming with members of the same gender and students who simply feel that they would be more safe and secure with a roommate of a different gender, regardless of the reason.

Moreover, there is a financial component of this decision. Currently, singles are the only gender-inclusive housing options available to students. It is important that gender-inclusive housing options be expanded to doubles, triples and traditional dorms—in all residential areas of campus—so that students do not have to choose between being truly comfortable with their living situation and having a more affordable housing option. When thinking about how such a policy would be incorporated into existing procedure, it is also important to note that gender-inclusive housing would be a choice, so no student would be placed into gender-inclusive housing without explicitly and willingly choosing that option.

Chancellor Mark Wrighton states that Washington University has a “goal of inclusive excellence,” but the fact that gender-inclusive housing is not readily available for all students attests to the opposite. Moreover, it puts the University behind its peer institutions that currently offer such options to all students. As a result, the University is not only losing diverse students to these other institutions but is also missing out on the talent and potential these students could bring to our campus.

Despite the room for growth in the University’s current housing policies, we do want to acknowledge the work that Residential Life Staff has already done to bring gender-inclusive housing to campus. We thank them for the research they have already done and look forward to working with them moving forward with this concern.

If you would like to discuss gender-inclusive housing further, please feel free to join us and voice your opinion at the Open Forum on Gender Inclusive Housing held in Tisch Commons on Wednesday, March 5 at 7 p.m.

The Diversity Affairs Council Cabinet

Gaby Dinkin—Chair, [email protected]

Amee Azad—Director of Student Affairs, [email protected]

Gokul Krishnan—Director of Public Relations, [email protected]

Judie Lee—Director of Resources, [email protected]

Ryan Sasse—Director of Administrative Affairs, [email protected]

Tiffini Hyatt—Director of Diversity Training, [email protected].