Gender-neutral housing would let students who don’t feel comfortable living with a member of their same sex opt-in to living with members of another gender in on-campus housing, allowing students to avoid uncomfortable and potentially unsafe situations.
Yet UNC remains woefully behind many of its peer institutions that have adopted the policy.
This is not for a lack of student effort. A new group, Student Power, has included it in a list of demands. Last spring, more than 2,500 students signed a petition to the chancellor asking for the policy’s implementation.
Chancellor Holden Thorp rejected the proposal, citing a concern: “We haven’t adequately explained it to our many stakeholders off-campus.” These stakeholders must be made to understand the issue. A student body that shows an understanding and passion for this housing policy can better inform stakeholders of the numerous benefits of gender-neutral housing.
By working with students at other system schools, UNC students can soothe fears that this policy is just liberalism for its own sake.
Gender-neutral housing would mean a better life for many UNC students. Per University policy, only individuals who were assigned the same sex at birth may live together in University housing.
But many students identify as a different gender than they were given at birth. Compulsion to live with members of their birth gender can create situations of misunderstanding and danger.
Importantly, the policy would be opt-in; only those students who actively want to participate would do so. The benefits that the system would bring to these students would far outweigh any fears of the system being abused.
