In dorms, men and women now room together

|Zach| · 12-28-2006, 05:50 PM

Some 20 colleges allow coed rooms. Friendships – not sexual intimacy – tend to motivate students to sign up.
By Ben Arnoldy | Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor
BOSTON – Janet Dewar and Matt Danzig met as college freshmen and hit it off so well they now are roommates. They share two on-campus rooms with only one doorway into the hall. That they don't share a gender doesn't give them a second thought.

"At first when I told [my parents] they said, 'We're going to have to talk to you about this,' " says Ms. Dewar, a sophomore at Wesleyan University in Connecticut. "I told them that there were two rooms, that there's nothing sexual going on between us, and that it wasn't really a big deal."

Some 20 universities and colleges have decided to allow undergraduates of the opposite sex to share an on-campus room. Most quietly made the move in the past five years, with Clark University in Worcester, Mass., deciding this month. It's the final frontier in the decades-long march away from gender separation in college dorms, hallways, and even bathrooms.

While sharing a room comes unnervingly close in the minds of many parents to sharing a bed, advocates for the new arrangements say sexual intimacy rarely plays a role with those who sign up. Instead, for a younger generation it is increasingly common for men and women to just be friends. And some gay and transgendered students welcome the chance to avoid same-sex roommates whom they may not be comfortable around, or who may not accept them.

"Men and women are becoming just as good friends as if they were with their same-sex friends. The dynamics have changed. I think the opposite sex is no longer really such a mystery as it was before," says Jeffrey Chang, a sophomore at Clark University, a school of about 2,800 students.

Mr. Chang led the effort to lift Clark's ban on opposite gender roommates for upperclassmen housing after he and his close friend Allison were barred from living together. As freshmen, the two did their homework together and ate together. So when it came time to choose sophomore housing, why shouldn't they live together?

Why schools change rooming policies

After close to a year of research and discussions, Clark administrators decided to allow it, primarily to accommodate gay and transgendered students, says Denise Darrigrand, dean of students. The school already had single-occupancy bathrooms, making it easier to change policy without paying for renovations.

Many schools changed their policies partly to better accommodate gay and transgendered students, and most schools make it a choice available only to upperclassmen.

The schools report few problems and little reaction to the policy. One parent of a perspective Clark student did call to express outrage over the decision, calling it immoral, according to Ms. Darrigrand.

But most parents contacted for the article didn't know their children's schools had such an option, and few students - no more than several dozen at most schools - actually avail themselves of it.

"I think it's just asking for trouble," says Collette Janson-Sand, whose son goes to the University of Southern Maine, and who was unaware that the school now allows opposite gender roommates. "Even if he said it was platonic, I know what young people are like ... [and] I would also worry how much it would take away from his studies."

Not all parents oppose students cohabitating on campus.

"At first, it did shock me a little, but it doesn't bother me now," says Leslie Duffy, in an e-mail. Her daughter attends Bennington, a college in Vermont that allows upperclassmen of opposite genders to room together.

She hears that most of the male-female roommates are strictly platonic. Those in romantic relationships, she suspects, probably want their space and wouldn't risk being stuck in a tiny room after a breakup. "If not, it's a lesson to learn."

"College-age people make their own decisions about sexual behavior, and living arrangements have never done much to enable or prevent that," Ms. Duffy adds.

Administrators at the University of Southern Maine say some parents actually requested the arrangement so that siblings and relatives could share a room.

Research finds cross-gender friendships are more common among young people. A 2002 survey by American Demographics and Synovate found that 18-to-24-year-olds are almost four times as likely as those age 55 and over to have a best friend of the opposite sex. More than 10 percent of those ages 25 to 34 reported their closest friend to be of the opposite sex.

In a study published in 2000 by the Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, more than a quarter of participants reported having sex with a friend of the opposite gender. Most continued to be friends.

Concerns about sex outside marriage

Few colleges have been willing to take gender integration to the room level. Harvard University has been only considering the move off and on for years, a spokesman said.

Meghan Grizzle, a Harvard student, is concerned that sexual abuse or rape may rise in these living arrangements. She also writes for Modestly Yours, a blog that argues for a return to sexual modesty. "If women aren't respecting themselves in the way they dress and the way they act, then men aren't going to necessarily feel the need to do it either," she says.

For Christian colleges, concerns about sex outside marriage have kept most from going as far as secular schools in mixing genders in dorms. While it's not unheard of for Christian colleges to have opposite genders on different floors of the same dorm, most opt for separation by wing or even building, says Greg Leeper, associate dean of students at Trinity International University in Deerfield, Ill.

"We need to provide for solid parameters and accountability, and that expresses itself through separate living spaces, while encouraging positive interaction as well," says Mr. Leeper, who cites room visitation hours and 24-hour common areas as opportunities for Trinity students to build relationships.

Most of the schools allowing men and women to room together have liberal reputations, including Swarthmore in Pennsylvania, Hampshire College in Massachusetts, and Sarah Lawrence College in New York.

In the past year, some state schools like the University of California at Riverside have joined them.

When asked if living together has brought sexual tension into their friendship, Mr. Danzig said "no" flatly, and Dewar said the same, emphatically. Neither report any awkward or indelicate moments, but when both genders use the same bathroom on the floor not much remains secret. Dating neighbors - known as "hallcest" or "dormcest" - is courting disaster given such close quarters, says Danzig.

"I have a variety of female friends - many are entirely platonic, some of them I am attracted to," says Danzig, who sees Wesleyan's rooming policy as an extension of the school's rejection of traditionally defined notions of gender. "There's less pressure to behave the way that stereotypically males and females are supposed to behave."

crazycoffey · 12-28-2006, 05:52 PM

Riiiiiiiiight

where do I sign up

|Zach| · 12-28-2006, 05:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by crazycoffey

Riiiiiiiiight

where do I sign up

University of Southern Maine it seems?

Deberg_1990 · 12-28-2006, 05:55 PM

Wow....

Not a good idea...

ChiefsCountry · 12-28-2006, 05:55 PM

I wouldn't be too crazy about unless it was worth it.

|Zach| · 12-28-2006, 05:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Deberg_1990

Wow....

Not a good idea...

You think?

Simplex3 · 12-28-2006, 06:00 PM

Wow. The PC crowd gets dumber by the day.

Deberg_1990 · 12-28-2006, 06:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by (Zach)

You think?

As an 18 year old kid probably would have loved the idea.

As a 35 year old father of 2...not so much....LOL

|Zach| · 12-28-2006, 06:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Deberg_1990

As a 35 year old father of 2...not so much....LOL

Thats understandable but...do you think anything that you may worry will happen wouldn't happen if the living situation were not like that.

I just don't see anything that would go down that wouldnt be going down anyway.

Mecca · 12-28-2006, 06:05 PM

Who cares.....it's no big deal. I do enjoy the people who act like it's some big deal...my god your female roommate sees you changing, I'd think people of college age know what the opposite sex looks like naked so um who cares.

Simplex3 · 12-28-2006, 06:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by (Zach)

Thats understandable but...do you think anything that you may worry will happen wouldn't happen if the living situation were not like that.

I just don't see anything that would go down that wouldnt be going down anyway.

I've know plenty of guys through the years that would have gone home drunk and f**ked up that situation.

crazycoffey · 12-28-2006, 06:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Deberg_1990

As an 18 year old kid probably would have loved the idea.

As a 35 year old father of 2...not so much....LOL

Father of two, boys or girls????

big difference

You know what they say, father a boy and only have to worry about one penis, father a girl and you have to worry about alot of them

|Zach| · 12-28-2006, 06:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Simplex3

I've know plenty of guys through the years that would have gone home drunk and f**ked up that situation.

Ha, I will wait for your living situation for college students that doesn't involve drunk kids making things worse.

Besides I think your logic can go both ways.

Simplex3 · 12-28-2006, 06:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by crazycoffey

You know what they say, father a boy and only have to worry about one penis, father a girl and you have to worry about alot of them

I've only heard this one other place in my life. He had a different twist on it, though.

"When you have a boy you have to worry about what he's going to do with his d**k. When you have a girl you have to worry about what every boy in the world is going to do with his d**k."

Simplex3 · 12-28-2006, 06:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by (Zach)

Ha, I will wait for your living situation for college students that doesn't involve drunk kids making things worse.

Besides I think your logic can go both ways.

I'm not saying you can stop boys and girls from getting drunk and making big mistakes, but when they make that mistake with some fat chick (Endelt) who's in a different building nobody is making a request to move.

12-28-2006, 05:50 PM
\|Zach\| For The Glory Of The City Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: Kansas City Casino cash: $5316768	In dorms, men and women now room together Some 20 colleges allow coed rooms. Friendships – not sexual intimacy – tend to motivate students to sign up. By Ben Arnoldy \| Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor BOSTON – Janet Dewar and Matt Danzig met as college freshmen and hit it off so well they now are roommates. They share two on-campus rooms with only one doorway into the hall. That they don't share a gender doesn't give them a second thought. "At first when I told [my parents] they said, 'We're going to have to talk to you about this,' " says Ms. Dewar, a sophomore at Wesleyan University in Connecticut. "I told them that there were two rooms, that there's nothing sexual going on between us, and that it wasn't really a big deal." Some 20 universities and colleges have decided to allow undergraduates of the opposite sex to share an on-campus room. Most quietly made the move in the past five years, with Clark University in Worcester, Mass., deciding this month. It's the final frontier in the decades-long march away from gender separation in college dorms, hallways, and even bathrooms. While sharing a room comes unnervingly close in the minds of many parents to sharing a bed, advocates for the new arrangements say sexual intimacy rarely plays a role with those who sign up. Instead, for a younger generation it is increasingly common for men and women to just be friends. And some gay and transgendered students welcome the chance to avoid same-sex roommates whom they may not be comfortable around, or who may not accept them. "Men and women are becoming just as good friends as if they were with their same-sex friends. The dynamics have changed. I think the opposite sex is no longer really such a mystery as it was before," says Jeffrey Chang, a sophomore at Clark University, a school of about 2,800 students. Mr. Chang led the effort to lift Clark's ban on opposite gender roommates for upperclassmen housing after he and his close friend Allison were barred from living together. As freshmen, the two did their homework together and ate together. So when it came time to choose sophomore housing, why shouldn't they live together? Why schools change rooming policies After close to a year of research and discussions, Clark administrators decided to allow it, primarily to accommodate gay and transgendered students, says Denise Darrigrand, dean of students. The school already had single-occupancy bathrooms, making it easier to change policy without paying for renovations. Many schools changed their policies partly to better accommodate gay and transgendered students, and most schools make it a choice available only to upperclassmen. The schools report few problems and little reaction to the policy. One parent of a perspective Clark student did call to express outrage over the decision, calling it immoral, according to Ms. Darrigrand. But most parents contacted for the article didn't know their children's schools had such an option, and few students - no more than several dozen at most schools - actually avail themselves of it. "I think it's just asking for trouble," says Collette Janson-Sand, whose son goes to the University of Southern Maine, and who was unaware that the school now allows opposite gender roommates. "Even if he said it was platonic, I know what young people are like ... [and] I would also worry how much it would take away from his studies." Not all parents oppose students cohabitating on campus. "At first, it did shock me a little, but it doesn't bother me now," says Leslie Duffy, in an e-mail. Her daughter attends Bennington, a college in Vermont that allows upperclassmen of opposite genders to room together. She hears that most of the male-female roommates are strictly platonic. Those in romantic relationships, she suspects, probably want their space and wouldn't risk being stuck in a tiny room after a breakup. "If not, it's a lesson to learn." "College-age people make their own decisions about sexual behavior, and living arrangements have never done much to enable or prevent that," Ms. Duffy adds. Administrators at the University of Southern Maine say some parents actually requested the arrangement so that siblings and relatives could share a room. Research finds cross-gender friendships are more common among young people. A 2002 survey by American Demographics and Synovate found that 18-to-24-year-olds are almost four times as likely as those age 55 and over to have a best friend of the opposite sex. More than 10 percent of those ages 25 to 34 reported their closest friend to be of the opposite sex. In a study published in 2000 by the Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, more than a quarter of participants reported having sex with a friend of the opposite gender. Most continued to be friends. Concerns about sex outside marriage Few colleges have been willing to take gender integration to the room level. Harvard University has been only considering the move off and on for years, a spokesman said. Meghan Grizzle, a Harvard student, is concerned that sexual abuse or rape may rise in these living arrangements. She also writes for Modestly Yours, a blog that argues for a return to sexual modesty. "If women aren't respecting themselves in the way they dress and the way they act, then men aren't going to necessarily feel the need to do it either," she says. For Christian colleges, concerns about sex outside marriage have kept most from going as far as secular schools in mixing genders in dorms. While it's not unheard of for Christian colleges to have opposite genders on different floors of the same dorm, most opt for separation by wing or even building, says Greg Leeper, associate dean of students at Trinity International University in Deerfield, Ill. "We need to provide for solid parameters and accountability, and that expresses itself through separate living spaces, while encouraging positive interaction as well," says Mr. Leeper, who cites room visitation hours and 24-hour common areas as opportunities for Trinity students to build relationships. Most of the schools allowing men and women to room together have liberal reputations, including Swarthmore in Pennsylvania, Hampshire College in Massachusetts, and Sarah Lawrence College in New York. In the past year, some state schools like the University of California at Riverside have joined them. When asked if living together has brought sexual tension into their friendship, Mr. Danzig said "no" flatly, and Dewar said the same, emphatically. Neither report any awkward or indelicate moments, but when both genders use the same bathroom on the floor not much remains secret. Dating neighbors - known as "hallcest" or "dormcest" - is courting disaster given such close quarters, says Danzig. "I have a variety of female friends - many are entirely platonic, some of them I am attracted to," says Danzig, who sees Wesleyan's rooming policy as an extension of the school's rejection of traditionally defined notions of gender. "There's less pressure to behave the way that stereotypically males and females are supposed to behave."
Posts: 53,435

12-28-2006, 05:52 PM	#2
crazycoffey .......... Join Date: Dec 2006 Casino cash: $5187901	Riiiiiiiiight where do I sign up
Posts: 28,331

12-28-2006, 05:55 PM	#4
Deberg_1990 In Search of a Life Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: San Antonio Tx. Casino cash: $3914454	Wow.... Not a good idea... __________________ Originally Posted by Cassel's Reckoning: Matt once made a very nice play in Seattle where he spun away from a pass rusher and hit Bowe off his back foot for a first down. One of the best plays Matt has ever made.
Posts: 66,914

12-28-2006, 05:55 PM	#5
ChiefsCountry The Insider Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Lake of the Ozarks Casino cash: $2298752	I wouldn't be too crazy about unless it was worth it.
Posts: 49,618

12-28-2006, 06:00 PM	#7
Simplex3 MVP Join Date: Sep 2003 Casino cash: $10004900	Wow. The PC crowd gets dumber by the day.
Posts: 28,527

12-28-2006, 06:05 PM	#10
Mecca Hockey Town Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Kansas City, Missouri Casino cash: $2597050	Who cares.....it's no big deal. I do enjoy the people who act like it's some big deal...my god your female roommate sees you changing, I'd think people of college age know what the opposite sex looks like naked so um who cares.
Posts: 110,962