UF may soon join dozens of colleges around the country in implementing gender-neutral housing options.
Gators Coalition for an Inclusive Campus is putting together a proposal for gender-inclusive or gender-neutral housing, which means a student could live in on-campus housing with any other student, regardless of his or her gender. The coalition will present the proposal to the administration in two weeks.
If a student does not feel comfortable with gender-inclusive housing, then he or she can still opt for traditional housing, said Marla Munro, president of Gators Coalition for an Inclusive Campus.
“We want to give transgender students a place where they can feel safe and comfortable,” said the 21-year-old UF women’s studies junior.
Munro said other schools, like University of California, Berkeley, have had positive feedback about their gender-neutral housing.
Shaneece Dixon, a 23-year-old journalism senior, said she doesn’t have a problem with gender-neutral housing.
“I think it should have been an option from the get-go,” she said.
But Josh Longerbeam, a 21-year-old third-year UF computer engineering student said he thinks the school’s budget should go toward pressing issues like making sure all majors have significant funding for research and classes.
“I just don’t think it’s necessary,” Longerbeam said.
