More than 30 campuses offering program
Coed rooms are turning up at more four-year colleges and universities.
A trend that began decades ago with coed dormitories eventually embraced coed floors, then unisex showers. Now, some students at some universities are warming to the idea of sharing rooms with members of the opposite sex.
More than 30 universities offer coed rooms for male and female students who want to live together. Among them are Dartmouth College in New Hampshire, California Institute of Technology, New York University and Ithaca College in New York.
Solere Janbazian, who is considering enrolling at North Lake College, has mixed feelings about the new trend.
“I think it’s a great opportunity for couples to be roommates, but personally, I’m not comfortable with that idea yet,” Janbazian said.
According to www.dartmouth.edu, the Office of Residential Life (ORL) launched its new gender-neutral housing program last spring in response to student demand. The college was inundated with twice as many applications as there were spots available.
The success of the coed rooms will be judged by ORL through quantitative data, focus groups and individual conversations with students, officials said.
Other universities may adopt the new program for different reasons. Coed rooms will help straight, gay and transgender students feel comfortable with whatever gender they choose, according to some college officials.
Stanford University in California will attempt to adopt a “gender-blind” policy launched by a group of several dozen transgender students and their allies – both gay and straight.
The program appeals to students who are uncomfortable about exposing their alternative lifestyle as well as heterosexual couples who want to live together, officials said. But would this benefit or hinder students’ education?
North Lake student Rachel Gibson feels coed rooms are tempting, but not beneficial in the long run.
“Students will most likely become more sexually active if they have coed rooms,” Gibson said. Ultimately, this would cause students to miss more classes and fall behind on their studies.”
Coed rooms also may raise ethical questions in the minds of some. But some other students seem to make the new program work well.
Will students from North Lake opt for coed rooms when they transfer to four-year schools? Maybe – but not if they transfer to another school in Texas. Coed rooms have not yet found a home at universities in the Lone Star state.