'Pride Place' residential community opens doors, UNC housing rebrands

The UNC Department of Housing and Residential Education is opening a new residential community called Pride Place that focuses on LGBTQ identities. The department is also working on a rebranding project.

Morgan McLaughlin, one of the founders of Pride Place, said Pride Place, which is located in Cobb Residence Hall, is a LGBTQ-affirming living space for LGBTQ students and allies.

“It was created out of a need for a place to live for LGBTQ folks and their allies because there isn’t any on campus,” McLaughlin said. “Especially after what’s been happening with (House Bill 2), students feel a need to find a safe space to live.”

Pride Place is not gender-neutral housing, but offers a safe living space for students who may not feel comfortable in a traditional hall-style dorm.

McLaughlin said close to 30 students will be living in Pride Place this year, after 10 first-years signed up over the summer once they learned about the community during orientation.

Sophomore Brennan Lewis was involved in the planning of Pride Place and will be a resident in the community this year. Lewis said Pride Place will be an opportunity for students to connect with others in the LGBTQ community, while learning about issues such as intersectionality and social justice.

“I want to keep having this safe space for students to kind of engage in their type of community and also feel safe,” Lewis said. “I also want to use this as a type of springboard for more activism on campus. I don’t think we’ve had any type of community like this before so I’m looking forward to seeing what we can do.”

The housing department has also been making other changes for the new school year, including rebranding their department and adding a program for sophomores and new residential communities.

Rick Bradley, the associate director of housing and residential education, said UNC-themed wall wraps and graphics were introduced in nine buildings over the summer as a part of the rebranding project.

“Nine first-year halls have a very UNC look and feel to them, off of elevators and lounge stations,” Bradley said. “That’ll be a project that’ll continue until we get all the buildings, so we’ll do a phase two of that, hopefully over winter break. We’ve got ten more buildings we’re trying to do.”

Bradley said the rebranding came about after representatives from Michigan State University, University of Florida and Texas Tech University overviewed the state of housing at UNC.

“When they walked through our buildings they said that for a university that has such a strong brand of Carolina, you don’t really see it much in the buildings,” Bradley said.

He said the branding project has received positive feedback from students and families during the move-in period.

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