Universities test coed housing as UCLA looks into option

At various universities nationwide, male and female students can now live in the same room, and, despite mixed reviews, this new movement may include UCLA in a few years.

The universities include Oberlin College, Brown University, Wesleyan University, the University of Pennsylvania, Clark University and the California Institute of Technology.

Soon Stanford and, most notably, UCLA’s sister campus UC Riverside are allowing voluntary coed rooms, according to a Yahoo! News article.

At these universities, students are being given the choice to live with whomever, regardless of sex.

At UCLA, the Office of Residential Life would consider allowing opposite sex students to live together if demand grows.

Current lack of demand has not made coed rooming an issue, but if enough students do express an interest, ORL would not be opposed to beginning a debate on the subject, said Suzanne Seplow, director of ORL.

“It’s just becoming a trend in college and university housing. Within the UC system there have been a few pilot programs, like UC Riverside,” she said.

Coed housing at UCLA would most likely be linked to theme housing, Seplow said.

“ORL is doing a whole new revamping of our themed housing, looking at gender neutral housing and looking at housing themes relating to gender,” she added.

Though there has been talk of whether or not to offer coed rooming, no decision has been made as of yet, Seplow said.

Andrew Look, a second-year computer science and engineering student, currently lives in an apartment with a male roommate and two female friends in a separate bedroom.

A few problems arise, such as embarrassingly spotting each other in underwear, but there are some big benefits, he said.

Differences in male and female social circles allow for meeting many new and different types of people, Look said.

Along with meeting new friends, the existing friendship of the roommates has been strengthened, he added.

Inherent social differences between the sexes are less important than having similar personalities, he said.

Because he is compatible with his female roommates, he has not noticed that much of a change from living with males, he said.

“It’s not that much different from living with guys except that you don’t walk around with your shirt off and you watch different TV,” Look said.

Interacting with an opposite sex roommate can be tricky because of emotional differences between men and women, he said.

“Guys and girls have different priorities, and sometimes you can’t express your frustrations because of emotion issues. With girls you have to have more tact,” Look added.

He said that he does not think enough people voluntarily want to live with the opposite sex for it to be a real issue.

But some students involved in campus religious organizations said they are morally opposed to allowing male and female students to live together.

“I would be personally against it. It would be unethical,” said Brian Keeban Nam, secretary of Korean Campus Crusade for Christ.

His reasons for opposing coed housing are based on his personal religious views.

He said he thinks men and women should only live together after marriage.

Because people can live with whomever they want off campus, on-campus housing should be based on ethics, he said.

He would be highly opposed to allowing men and women to live together on the Hill, he said.

Other students have not yet formed an opinion of this possibility.

David Chung, president of Korean Campus Crusade for Christ, said he cannot recall any clear Biblical interpretation on friends living together platonically, but if sex became involved, it would be immoral.

“I think really it could become kind of dangerous, in the sense that even an innocent start could potentially get kind of sexual,” he said.

While he is undecided on friends living together, he said he opposes anything that encourages premarital sex.

“In today’s society, moving in together implies a sexual relationship, and I think sex should happen after marriage, and that is the most rewarding thing,” Chung said.

Beyond religious reasons, Chung said he thinks the differences between the sexes would make a living arrangement unmanageable and chaotic.

Though it has been an interesting experience, Look said he would not want to live with someone of the opposite sex for all four years of college.

If students are interested enough in coed housing, they need to approach ORL directly to begin a serious discussion, Seplow said.