The cover story of the March 16th edition of the NU News, Growing Pains by Michael Naughton, discussed the University’s proposed plan to erect two new residence halls housing a combined 1555 new beds. It goes without saying that there is a serious lack of available on-campus housing. President Freeland has expressed his desire to provide housing to 75% of the undergraduate population, an admirable goal considering the limited resources the university has at any given time. However, the housing debate seems to revolve solely around numbers and not necessarily quality.

Northeastern prides itself on being a diverse school set in an urban environment. Too often however the students who provide the diversity which the University cherishes are forgotten. This is highlighted when the school attempts to provide new facilities or services. Case in point is the gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender (GLBT) community. Assuming that the commonly held notion that 10% of the population is gay is true, Northeastern with an undergraduate population of around 15,000 students would have 1,500 GLBT students. These students, who provide a great deal to the school, deserve what their counterparts at so many other institutions have, access to themed housing. Unlike members of the African-American or Latino/a communities, the GLBT community lacks a stand alone facility. It’s unlikely that the university will magnanimously provide such a facility. In this case Residential Life, with its proposed increase in housing, should, out of fairness, move to designate the floor of one of its upper-class residence halls as being GLBT housing. Tufts University provides its students with “Rainbow House”. “The Rainbow House exists to provide lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and ally students a housing option where their sexual orientation will not be an issue,” states a University website. This has been a housing option for undergraduates since 1998. Other universities provide a similar option to undergraduates, for example Foothill Residence Hall at University of California at Berkeley. These facilities provide a needed housing option.

Northeastern has already designated the 230 bed West Village F, set to open in the summer of 2006, for freshman honors student. The University presently offers freshmen a plethora of housing options. There is Kennedy Hall for freshman honors students, Loftman Hall for international students, quiet floors, wellness floors, themed housing for the criminal justice, engineering, computer science, business, and Bouve