New Hampshire College to Spend $3.6 Million on Gay Housing Project
A New Hampshire academic institution's leadership has approved a $3.6 million housing project for its lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, questioning, intersex and allied students.
The Board of Trustees at Dartmouth College decided to approve the project, known as The Triangle House, at their meeting in September with work set to begin this month.
Dartmouth President Phil Hanlon, himself a graduate of Dartmouth in 1977, said in an interview with a campus publication that the project was part of the college's commitment to diversity.
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"The Triangle House will be a welcome addition to Dartmouth, and a tangible sign of the Board's commitment to increase the diversity of social, intellectual, and residential options on campus," said Hanlon to Dartmouth Now.
"It is also part of Dartmouth's continuing commitment to having a campus that is inclusive, respectful, and engaged."
The LGBTQIA housing project is part of Dartmouth's affinity programs, which according to the college website, are about creating "residentially-based, educationally-purposeful living opportunities for residents that center around a self-defined Academic or Special Interest programmatic focus."
Before launching The Triangle House, Dartmouth already created a "Gender Neutral Program" which "allows for same-gender, opposite-gender or other-gender identities to live together regardless of biological sex."
"This program floor will provide a living/learning environment where residents can learn about and explore gender identity and expression in a supportive environment," reads the program's description on Dartmouth's site.
Other affinity programs include a French and Italian program, an Inter-faith Living and Learning Center, International Residence, and a Latin American, Latino and Caribbean House.
Dartmouth is not the only New England academic institute to recently expand its housing options to include LGBT or gender neutral options.
During the summer, Boston University announced that they would create the option for gender-neutral housing as a matter of "roommate choice" in response to student demands.
Andrew Beckwith, executive vice president of the Massachusetts Family Institute, called the new housing option at Boston "ill-advised."
"We believe this is an ill-advised policy, which will have the predictable effect of promoting sexual promiscuity," said Beckwith in an earlier 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."
Dartmouth College did not return comment to The Christian Post by press time.
