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Changing housing to coed not yet considered

By Kylie Reynolds

May 25, 2010 10:05 p.m.

Krystal Torres, a third-year communications student, advocates for a housing change that has yet to be realized at UCLA ““ gender-neutral housing.

Gender-neutral housing, which allows students of different genders to be roommates, is a choice already offered at over 50 universities in the country and may be available to UCLA students in the future.

“I think gender-neutral housing is the most progressive step we can take as a university. I think it’s a message of acceptance, and a true sense of equality is really important for the whole campus,” said Torres, a resident assistant in Hedrick Hall and a board member for the Queer Alliance at UCLA.

Currently, the Office of Residential Life has not made any such changes to housing because it has not felt that there is sufficient student demand, said Dana Pysz, an assistant director of residential life.

Policy Review Board, a student-led housing board that is one avenue through which this program could be executed, has had few discussions about the topic and has not received many student requests for gender-neutral housing, said Karen Hedges, an assistant director of residential life.

“In the schools (that have gender-neutral housing), all the changes came from student initiative,” Pysz said. “It’s difficult to make certain changes, like gender-neutral housing, without support and initiative from a student group … because then it’s just the administration making changes to make changes.”

At UC Berkeley, the program was simply the next move, after coed buildings and floors, in providing housing accommodations for students, said Martin Takimoto, director of marketing and communications for residential and student service programs at UC Berkeley.

While gender-neutral housing is available at other universities, it is rare for students to request this type of living arrangement, Takimoto said.

At UC Riverside, which was one of the first universities in the country to provide this option, there are only 10 to 15 students currently living in gender-neutral housing, said James Smith, associate director for residence life at UC Riverside.

Nevertheless, UC Riverside and UC Berkeley have not had any problems with gender-neutral housing and consider it an ideal living situation for some students.

“Other than the typical types of roommate conflicts that come out between any new roommates … there really haven’t been any issues related to gender-inclusive housing,” Takimoto said. “In fact, because students in gender-inclusive housing have to select each other, they have already thought about those issues, and they know each other because they picked each other.”

Although residential life has not received many student requests, Torres said a demand for gender-neutral housing does exist on campus, but many students do not know how to present their opinion.

“It’s just a matter of voicing it and through the right channels,” she said, “I don’t necessarily think the demand isn’t there, I think it’s because people don’t understand the issue or understand it’s importance.”

However, Torres said she does not think residential life has taken much initiative to see if there is student interest for gender-neutral housing on campus.

“In my opinion, before they say there is no demand, (residential life) should try to outreach. I can’t say that I know how they have done this but I don’t think they have really surveyed for the demand,” she said.

Although no housing adjustments have been made, Pysz said residential life supports gender-neutral housing because of its benefits for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender students, as well as for straight students who do not feel comfortable living with someone of their same gender, and they would make changes if enough student interest was shown.

Torres attributes gender-neutral housing as a way to make the campus a more inclusive environment, and she said she encourages the entire student population to get involved in lobbying for a program.

“It takes organizations on campus to put it in their agenda and show students why it is important,” she said. “If (residential life) doesn’t feel the force from the student body, they won’t move. It needs to be something that this student body tries to implement. Individuals won’t cause a movement.”

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