PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY YANA MAZURKEVICH
Imagine if colleges allowed students to be roommates with people of the opposite gender? Well, that’s what Ithaca college is about to do!
Ithaca College recently announced its new open–housing policy — a housing option that enables students to select roommates regardless of their sex or gender.
Bonnie Prunty, director of the Office of Residential Life and Judicial Affairs and assistant dean for First–Year Experiences, and Linda Koenig, Residential Life representative and assistant director for housing services and communications, wrote the proposal and first put it forward in Spring 2015. On Feb. 15, Prunty met with the President’s Council to discuss the proposal, and Koenig said she heard about the approval Feb. 16.
“I believe this policy will allow our students the flexibility to live in the kind of roommate/apartment arrangement that makes them most comfortable,” Prunty said.
The Office of Residential Life then sent an email about the open–housing option to students Feb. 18. Freshmen Anna Gardner and Joe Simpson plan on utilizing the open–housing policy in the fall.
“I get along really well with my friend Joe,” Gardner said. “So once I saw that email, it was kind of a no-brainer.”
Campus Pride, an organization that promotes LGBT-friendly campuses, reports that over 200 colleges and universities have similar policies.
