Co-ed Dorm Rooms Coming To Columbia

In a move that the Post reports will soon allow Columbia University undergrads "to live in sin — on their parents' dime," students will be permitted to shack up with roommates of the opposite sex in dorm rooms. The so-called "gender-neutral" housing policy could be implemented next fall, allowing sophomores, juniors and seniors to choose roommates of the any gender.

Supporters say the new policy will make things easier for gay and lesbian students who might not feel comfortable living with roommates of the same gender. For heterosexual couples, it could "put an end to the infamous 'walk of shame' — the early-morning cross-campus trek back to a separate dorm in the previous night's clothes," according to the tabloid. Some commenters on Columbia's Bwog believe the policy will mainly benefit buddies of the opposite sex who have different sexual orientations. But other Ive Leaguers say that if heterosexual couples are allowed to live together, bad things might happen. "It will damage the community on the floor if a couple moves in together and then is fighting all the time," said said council representative Alex Frouman. "It's incredibly difficult to get a room change. The proposal is bad because of that risk that could adversely effect everyone on the hall."

Unsurprisingly, some Columbia parents, like Laura Hannon, were floored by the proposal. "I was shocked enough last year when we moved our son in and we saw that guys and girls shared a bathroom on the hall...If it had been our daughter, we would have turned around and walked straight out." Don't tell Hannon, but NYU has a similar policy that allows two men and two women to share apartment-style dorm rooms.

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By Ben Muessig in News on December 6, 2009 6:15 PM

Comments [rss]

columbiastudent

HAHA Laura Hannon, you don't need to worry about your son sharing a bathroom with girls, he could not be more gay!

Mr. Shankly

I predict chaos during the T-giving-Xmas breakup window.

valeriob

Oh yes, also during the spring-significant-other cleanup season.

NannyState

...before the summer fuck-pig season!

valeriob

This is a business decision. Anyone who thinks otherwise is a dolt.

For those of you saying that this is already common practice, I'd like for you to name an institution that currently allows co-ed rooms- I have yet to read an example.

This decision is a deterrent to those who consider renting an apartment with the boyfriend/girlfriend they will love for ever and everrrrr after their freshman year. Parents are unwilling to pay for the apartments, but more than willing to pay for the dorm so long as they continue to have no idea what happens, who lives there, etc.

It's a win/win all around. Kids are happy, parents are happy, columbia's admins are happy- retention will increase.

Pat

Sorry, that reply below was meant for you. Anyway, Dartmouth is one.

valeriob

Dartmouth's gender neutral housing requires a lengthy application which is open to all gender identities but requires approval on a case by case basis.

It's not an open and campus-wide policy, it's an exception to the policy.

Pat

Dartmouth.

angry_pickle

I guess it is such a popular and effective idea that 1 college out of thousands has this policy?

HBHB

I guarantee you nothing will change from the current set up. No college girl is going to room with some dude. It's just not going to happen. The stats will stay the same. By the way, why is everyone acting like sex doesn't already happen in dorms every single night?

HOTCUP

well why are you acting like co-ed dorming doesn't already exist? maybe not at your meathead frat school... but it's relatively common.

ides_of_march

Gender neutral? Sounds like a lot of dept. store mannequins are attending Columbia.

Anyway, the parents of Columbia students should just keep coughing up those tuition payments and shut up. How dare these fascist parents expect a say in their child's education that they bust their asses to pay for!

ilovejapgirls

the defense if a sex-related lawsuit ever comes up - "the students made their decision in choosing their roommate"

HOTCUP

this isn't progressive, this is just late.

Pat

Has Hermione Granger withdrawn her tuition yet?

nicemarmot

I lived in coed dorms all through college and we kept all the bathrooms coed even though it was against college policy. It was just easier to use the bathroom nearest you than the one for your sex. Also the way many halls were set up, if you divided bathrooms by sex one would get a lot more traffic than the other, since the guy/girl ratio in our particular hall was about 2:3. There were also plenty of people who effectively switched rooms to live guy-girl instead of single sex. They generally got away with it.

And casey shain is right, there's nothing unsexier than living with a bunch of strangers and seeing them first thing in the morning with bad breath and hair scraggled all over. Or seeing them coming home drunk and barfing all over everywhere, then spending the morning lying next to their own puke, so hungover they can't move. Yeah baby, that's sexy! I never slept with any of the guys in my hall freshman year, we'd all seen each other at our worst too many times to be interested anymore.

It's a little different when you're an upperclassmen and presumably have more choice over who you live with. Then you can make the horrible mistake of living with someone you want to sleep with. However, most people learn from that mistake pretty quickly...

movi

Never having lived in a dorm, I'm ignorant of what goes on. Personally, I don't shit where I eat. But, is drinking and sex really what dorm living is all about? No studious types, ever? No wonder today's college students are so politically uninvolved.

NannyState

My college dorm was a cesspool of alcohol, drugs and sex. Oh, and if it makes you feel better, it was also a cesspool of studying.

nicemarmot

Well I can't speak for everybody, but there were plenty of studious types in my college. You just didn't see them as much because they were always in their room studying, or at a study group, or at the library. Which of course did not prevent them from getting shit-faced on a Saturday night. The reason college students these days are politically uninvolved is because they know everybody automatically rolls their eyes whenever college students take up an issue.

casey shain

my parents were NOT shocked that guys and girls shared our dorm's bathrooms, and that was THIRTY YEARS AGO. what rock did these parents crawl out of in 2009? and no, there won't be 'more fucking' as someone said above. there is nothing less sexy than living with people and seeing them 24/7 in all of their disgusting human glory. in fact, there will probably be less. good move Columbia. now let's get on with the studies. this world needs some more well-educated people NOW.

Snoopy

Do you mean like the college crowd down in Union Square that spelled "DOW" with their prostrate bodies? Or was it prostate bodies? I keep getting the two words confused.