By Lauren DiTullio, News Staff
In the two years Northeastern’s Gender Neutral Housing Living Learning Community (LLC) has existed, every bed has been filled.
Resident Student Association (RSA) and Student Government Association (SGA) executives say student interest in the LLC is still growing, but there’s only one problem: The only rooms currently offered are in International Village (INV).
SGA Vice President for Student Services Will Pett is the head of an ad hoc committee that will make a formal recommendation to the university to expand gender-neutral housing to include apartment-style dorms. A housing task force made up of administrative members of Residential Life will hear the proposal at its next meeting, the date for which has not yet been determined.
“I’ve been approached privately by students … who said that they are interested in the concept [of gender-neutral housing],” Pett said. “But maybe weren’t necessarily interested in living in International Village, and nowhere else.”
RSA vice president for housing services Stephen McBride said the LLC was originally conceived in 2008 as a way to provide a comfortable living arrangement for lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender (LGBT) students. It was implemented with the opening of INV in 2009. Since then, the LLC has grown from 49 beds to 65 beds, which both organizations attribute to the popularity of a gender neutral housing option. As a resident assistant (RA) for the Gender Neutral Housing LLC, McBride said many of the students interested in the LLC are non-LGBT students who want to live with a friend of the opposite sex.
“We heard from a lot of people that they love the idea, and they love what it’s about … but a meal plan is required there, which makes it unappealing for students on co-op,” he said. “Those who want to live with more than one other person are at a disadvantage as well. We definitely want to provide a welcoming environment for everyone, and a lot of people want that to happen somewhere else.”
McBride said the details of the recommendation are still being worked out, but that there are no plans to eliminate the current gender-neutral rooms in INV, mainly because the building would be the most accessible option for freshmen. He said his hope is to add one to two floors to the LLC in other, apartment-style buildings on campus.
Of 65 residents currently living in gender-neutral housing, only 18 responded to a survey in which RSA polled students on whether they planned to live in the LLC again next year and whether moving it to an apartment-style location would influence their decision. Of the 18 responders, 9 said they would be more likely to choose the LLC if they were able to live in an apartment-style dorm. However, SGA’s Campus Invasion survey, conducted two weeks ago showed that 44.38 percent of roughly 1,400 members of the student body are in favor of the LLC’s expansion.
“I think expanding the program is an excellent idea,” said Domonique Chamely, president of Northeastern University’s Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Intersex, Queer, Questioning, and Straight Alliance (NUBiLaGa), in an e-mail to The News. “International Village is one of the more expensive dorms on campus and does not offer kitchens or living rooms for students. The program was meant to be accessible and affordable. I hope the expansion of the program does take place.”
Current resident Trevor Crossland, a middler business major, chose gender-neutral housing because he was looking for housing last-minute and the LLC still had space available. However, he is happy with his living arrangement and said he thinks the LLC is important to the LGBT community.
“A lot of my friends are gay and hate being with other guy roommates, but if they’re in gender neutral housing they feel safer,” Crossland said. “Their female roommates wouldn’t care so much and they end up becoming a lot better friends.”
Crossland also said his preference would be to live somewhere other than INV.
“I love my roommate, but we never see each other, because we’re not really in the same room,” he said. “In all honesty, I’m not crazy about the layout in INV because it’s just so small. I would definitely like to live in an apartment where there is more space and more opportunity to interact.”
According to SGA documents, the proposed apartments would still be segregated by gender within the individual bedrooms, but the apartment as a whole would house residents of both sexes. A building has not yet been selected.
“I’m really pleased with the recommendation that the committee was able to come up with,” Pett said. “I think it’s a great opportunity to provide a more welcoming environment and create more unique housing options for students.”
