by Kristen Franklin (kjfrank@gwu.edu)
Getting into college and planning for your first year is a very exciting time for most students. One of the first things that most new students must do is complete a housing application if they are planning to live on campus. For most, this is simply another rite of passage but for students who do not identify on the gender binary, this can be an anxiety-inducing moment. Will they be in a safe environment? What will happen if they are assigned roommates? Are roommates assigned based on biological sex? In order to help address some of these concerns, many universities have introduced a gender neutral or gender-inclusive housing option.
GW began offering gender inclusive housing to all students in 2010. The initiative was student-led but gained buy-in from faculty, staff, alumni, and parents by creating different working groups that examined from a diverse set of perspectives how this initiative could affect the on campus living experience.
The implementation of gender inclusive housing was fairly easy at GW. We are lucky to have private bathrooms in all rooms and the buildings were already coed by room. Now, on the housing application, students could indicate their selected roommate, of any gender, and select yes to a question about if they were participating in gender inclusive housing and they would be assigned with that person. This process has worked well for returning students, but proves to be more challenging for incoming freshmen and transfer students.
Because the process is based on mutual roommate requests, if a student does not know someone who wants to participate in gender inclusive housing, they are unable to participate in the program. This provides the biggest challenge to students who do not identify on the gender binary and trans* students who may not feel comfortable or safe living with roommates of the same biological sex as them.
In order to address these concerns, GW Housing introduced some new options for students. First, we contracted with a third-party vendor, RoomSync, which provides a roommate matching service. GW students are sent a unique link and then can search for roommates utilizing an app powered by Facebook. We worked with RoomSync to ensure students may match with people of any sex. Second, we introduced an optional question on the housing application where students may select their gender. This information is used internally and is only reviewed to ensure that students are assigned to a space where they are comfortable. If a student selects a gender other than “man” or “woman” and does not have roommate requests, a professional staff member will reach out to see what type of housing that student is looking for and how we can best meet their needs. This provides a more personalized approach where the students are more in control and are connected to resources to help them navigate their transition to the university. Finally, we added a preferred name section to all of our applications and forms so that we are addressing students by the name they would like to go by. This ensures that when RAs are making door decorations we are not unintentionally outing someone or using a name they don’t like.
While we have not yet seen the results of introducing RoomSync, we anticipate it will increase the number of gender-inclusive housing requests made by first-year students. We have received positive feedback from students about the changes to the housing application. While we believe we have come a long way in providing LGBTQIA+ students options for safe and comfortable living environments, we will continue to work with student groups to identify areas for growth or improvement and work together to adapt the gender inclusive housing program at GW.
The book Trans* Policies & Experiences in Housing & Residence Life provides more information about creating gender inclusive housing and GW’s experience.
Kristen Franklin is an Associate Director in GW Housing.
