Associated Student Government (ASG) is taking steps to make upperclassmen living on-campus more comfortable. ASG passed a bill Tuesday that supports a gender-neutral housing option for students in select residence halls. Flower, Hahne and Hepburn halls and Heritage Commons were proposed because they are already on co-ed floors and have private bathrooms in the suites. The bill would allow students to designate gender-neutral housing and choose roommates with whom they feel most comfortable. Students could also choose the random roommate option and be placed with other students who select gender-neutral housing.
The editorial board of The Miami Student thinks this is a good step to make all students on Miami University's campus feel welcome and comfortable. Feeling comfortable and safe where one lives is an extremely important part of the college experience. More students are living on-campus with the sophomore living requirement, making this gender-neutral option even more necessary.
Miami added gender identity to its Statement of Non-Discrimination in 2007, and this is a way to follow up that mission with action. The university carries a conservative stigma and is often criticized by both students and collegiate ratings as being an un-friendly campus for students of the LGBT community. Allowing students to live where they feel most comfortable can help break down that stigma. When perspective students are looking at Miami, having this option available to them after their first-year could attract a wider variety of students to campus from broad backgrounds and points of view.
This board also supports carefully examining results of this proposal, should it be put into effect, especially in respect to considering expansion of this option to first-years. Students' first year is a key year in developing as a young adult and doing so in a comfortable environment is important. This board knows this will bring a new series of questions but encourages the university to stay open to this possibility.
This board recognizes some straight students in relationships may try to take advantage of the option to live with their partner, but this board ultimately believes this option will help students far more than the number of students who may forget the option's purpose.
Times are progressing, and it is good for Miami to work to stay ahead of the changes, rather than adopting these options once other universities have. Miami will join one of 40 universities that currently have this available and can be a leader for Ohio to make students of all types feel comfortable where they live.
