Gender-neutral housing is for the needs of students who do not identify as male or female to feel comfortable with their living situations, but its acceptance at Linfield has not happened yet.

More schools are starting to add gender-neutral housing options for students living on campus. It has traditionally been that girls room with girls and guys with guys, but those options for many students are changing.

Meanwhile, students residing off-campus can live with whoever they want. It’s up to the students to make a change if they want a say in their living situations.

Campus Pride Trans Policy Clearinghouse says that 149 schools in our nation have gender-neutral housing, and in Oregon there are six.

Some schools like Willamette and Oregon State University offer apartment-style housing, Lewis and Clark has double rooms available, Reed College has gender-neutral housing all throughout campus, Southern Oregon University has a small area where it is available, and University of Oregon has a housing building with gender neutral rooms and bathrooms.

These schools have started as early as 2005 in getting gender neutral housing on their campuses.

“This is over due and a long time coming, there’s no doubt about that. But the tangibility of this possibility is incredibly exciting right now. I’m very proud to be a part of this movement and I’m grateful for everyone that has put in effort to get here,” said the President of Fusion, Alleta Maier.

Dean of Students, Susan Hopp said, “We are going to do our best to implement and extend gender-neutral housing for next fall.” While it is going to be hard to get room selection available for students with housing applications for fall coming up soon, Susan believes they can do it.

Student groups have been working alongside faculty on a proposal to finalize gender-neutral housing on the Linfield campus.

“We think it will work here as long as students understand what it is for, how it works, and which areas it will inhabit,” said Susan Hopp.

Limited somewhat by the physical structures of the dorms and apartment buildings, faculty are going to try to do the best they can for the first year, and feedback will help faculty determine how to make it better for the following years depending on student input.