A pilot gender-neutral housing program—under the new title of “open housing”—is two signatures away from approval for the 2011-2012 school year.
A task force of students and administrators sent a proposal for open housing—a program that would allow students of opposite genders to live together in doubles—to Columbia College Dean Michele Moody-Adams and School of Engineering and Applied Science Dean Feniosky Peña-Mora three weeks ago, and a decision is expected in late October or early November.
The proposal suggests that five or six residence halls be open for this housing option next year instead of all upperclassman residence halls, as was originally proposed by students last year. It also includes recommended educational materials to distribute to students.
“We’re proposing this as a pilot program because administrators want to see things phased in,” said Avi Edelman, CC ’11, president of Everyone Allied Against Homophobia, and one of four students on the task force.
The task force—which includes Dean of Student Affairs Kevin Shollenberger, Dean of Community Development and Multicultural Affairs Terry Martinez, and Assistant Dean of Community Development and Residential Programs Cristen Kromm—hopes that after a trial first year, the option will be expanded to all non-freshman dorms, Edelman added.
“From the student standpoint, we don’t see this as that revolutionary a jump,” he said. “It will provide safe and comfortable living options for students.”
Last winter, Steven Pfau, CC ’13, had planned to live with a female friend until the proposal was unexpectedly rejected by administrators, who said they would “seriously consider” a pilot program for the 2011-2012 academic year.
“I’m not entirely sure why it didn’t pass last year, except for issues with the press and fear about the image we might have with the media,” Pfau said, referring to a New York Post article that claimed Columbia students would soon be allowed to “live in sin.”
Lianna Reagan, BC ’11, said she was confused by the backlash last year, since the proposal was designed with the comfort of transgender students in mind.
“The push came from the queer community, but the immediate backlash was so heteronormative,” she said, explaining that critics focused on straight couples, not the LGBT students who felt safer with roommates of the opposite gender.
She added that she hopes open housing will eventually reach all residence halls.
“Limiting this policy to just a few residence halls can be segregating,” she said. “I like that what we’re trying to achieve here is a very open, universal policy.”
On Wednesday, Moody-Adams and Peña-Mora toured a suite and a townhouse in East Campus to get a sense of what doubles look like.
According to officials from Student Affairs, an advantage this time around is that students and administrators have more time to educate others on campus and solicit a wider range of feedback.
Edelman said that, since both deans are new to Columbia, they have likely not seen many of the residence halls and don’t know what terms like “corridor-style housing” and “suite housing” actually mean.
The task force met a couple of times last year, held phone conferences over the summer, and met frequently in September to hash out the logistics of a pilot program to be approved by Moody-Adams and Peña-Mora.
The deans will meet to discuss the proposal with the committee on Oct. 21.