Gender-Inclusive Housing (GIH) has had multiple names and many different forms. Students of any gender looking to live on campus property can opt into a process where they are matched based on gender, not sex assigned at birth. People use GIH for many different reasons. For some, it is integral for safety and comfort, and for others, it is a way to live with friends of a different gender.

Good job, Residential Life. We give that office a lot of grief in this space throughout a given school year, from criticizing its strange enforcement of alcohol policies to discussing problems with its placement of students. But much to our delight, Residential Life recently acted swiftly and decisively in enacting a new policy allowing for gender-neutral housing across all ResLife properties.

Starting next academic year, all Washington University undergraduates—including incoming freshmen—will be able to live in gender-inclusive housing through Residential Life.

After a failed petition by four freshmen last year to live together in a mixed-gender suite on the South 40, administrators have approved policy changes that will allow for such petitions moving forward.

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.