Boston University Approves 'Gender Neutral' Housing
A Massachusetts-based academic institution has announced that they will give students living on campus the option of gender neutral housing.
Boston University President Robert A. Brown approved the housing option after much support and input came from the student population.
Kenneth Elmore, dean of students at Boston University, told the campus publication BU Today that the new option was more about "roommate choice" than "gender neutral" living situations.
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"This is about empowering students to make choices about how they live and giving them a greater measure of control over their college experience," said Elmore.
"…this is really about your choice of who you live with. Your preference about gender and how you perceive it is really not our concern."
According to Leslie Friday of BU Today, due to residences being already full for the fall semester, the gender neutral housing will not be earnestly implemented until the spring.
Colin Riley, spokesman for Boston University, provided The Christian Post with more information on the matter courtesy BU's housing website.
The housing site explained that the university will "take a thoughtful approach while implementing gender-neutral housing options" and certain restrictions apply.
"All residences are eligible for gender-neutral housing with the exception of Claflin, Rich and Sleeper Halls; the Warren Towers complex; The Towers; and Myles Annex," reads the housing information in part.
"Freshmen are not eligible to live in gender-neutral housing, regardless of residence location. Suites and rooms within specialty residences are not eligible to be gender-neutral."
Also the university setup a frequently asked questions page regarding the gender neutral housing, including clarifications regarding when and how room assignment will work.
According to the FAQ site, rooms can only become gender-neutral via "direct swap" and "pull in process" during the upcoming fall semester and no student will be "required to live in a gender-neutral room."
Also, while BU housing will not notify parents as to whether or not their children have opted to do gender neutral housing, "it is expected and encouraged that students will communicate with their families if they are selecting into a gender-neutral assignment."
Andrew Beckwith, executive vice president of the Massachusetts Family Institute, referred to the new housing option at Boston University as "ill-advised."
"We believe this is an ill-advised policy which will have the predictable effect of promoting sexual promiscuity," said Beckwith in an interview with The Christian Post.
"Considering the exorbitant increase in the cost of tuition, parents have a right to expect these universities not to expend those resources promoting radical social experiments, but rather on providing an educational environment which facilitates student safety and academic excellence."
