The Undergraduate Life Committee at Princeton University announced Tuesday that it has approved a proposal for a gender-neutral housing option for the 2010-11 school year.
Only one dorm will be affected during the program’s first year, which will remove the requirement that roommates in apartment-style suites be of the same gender.
As one blogger on Feministing.com put it: “This is of course a big step forward for trans and gender non-conforming students, who won’t be forced into single gender housing that might conflict with their identities. It’s also important for any person who wants more choice in who they live with, regardless of gender.”
The graduate school at Princeton implemented a similar program for its students in the 2008-2009 year, but this is the first program for undergraduate students.
“This is a big step forward for Princeton, which, until the ULC undertook this proposal, was the only university among the Ivy League and a set of other R1 universities that had never actively considered a gender-neutral housing proposal,” Emily Rutherford said in her blog on campusprogress.org.
— Theresa Bruskin
