Historic Residences Open Doors to Women

When junior Katie Ahrendt first heard rumors last year that Old East and Old West residence halls were becoming coed, she was concerned about preserving this tradition.

"At first I was against letting girls in," said the Columbia, S.C., native. "I felt there are so many girls on campus, there should be something left for the guys."

But after she had been assigned one of the spacious rooms in the oak-laden Old East, Ahrendt didn't put up a fight.

"I was really surprised I got in," she said. "You walk in, and it's so nice. It's like a hotel."

The second floor of Old East and the third floor of Old West have been converted into all-female floors this year.

Dean Bresciani, associate vice chancellor for student services, said a strong push to integrate the two residence halls started two years ago, when members of student government and the Residence Hall Association approached him.

A series of open forums followed, revealing mixed opinions.

"All the women thought it was a good idea," Bresciani said. "The only people who had a problem were some of the guys and the alumni who thought it was a good tradition to maintain."

But Bresciani said the move garnered overwhelming support and that the change was way overdue.

"It's somewhat artificial to place women and men in different buildings," he said. "The only other institution that does that is prison."

To ease the transition, Bresciani said housing officials personally talked to all men living in the halls last year and assured them that no one would have to leave.

He said a large number of upper-class men moved out of the buildings last year, clearing up enough room for the women to move in.

Officials also tried to choose upper-class women to participate in the integration. "They're more mature and self-confident," Bresciani said. "We just didn't know guys' reaction, but as it turned out, they've been great."

Junior Eric Boggs from Dallas, N.C., who has lived in Old West since his freshman year, said most of the men in his hall were strongly opposed to the integration at first.

"But once we found out we couldn't do anything about it, we accepted it," Boggs said.

He said the men's largest concern was that the addition of women would disrupt the all-male community. "We were really afraid that there would be a lot of sexual tension," he said. "It's fine and dandy with all guys, but if a hot girl moves in upstairs, it can mess things up."