What’s all the ruckus about coed dorms?

The president of Catholic University was in the news today announcing that the school would begin to phase out coed dorms and resort to the “old fashioned” way of living: single sex dormitories. The school has decided to take these measures as a means to battling “binge drinking and casual hook-ups.”

Hmm, this reminds me of that moment when I was younger and my mom said “don’t touch the stove” and of course, if you tell a toddler not to do something, they’re instantly on a mission to do the complete opposite — just to see what will happen.

But back to the topic at hand: segregating the guys from the girls won’t necessarily stop the casual hook-ups and binge drinking. That’s partially what college is all about! (Well that and your education of course!)

So it won’t matter if you have to go across the hall or across the campus; students are going to continue to drink & hook up as they please.

But I digress. I suppose there are a few pros and cons to having coed dorms.

Pros:
- gender neutral dorms promote a more LGBT-friendly campus.
- couples have the option of co-habitating
- coed dorms promote a more communal feel to campus living (uh, not sure of anyone’s noticed but the single sex homes aren’t doing too well in the real estate market. That was a joke by the way.)

Cons:

- More hooking up (yeah right)
- Binge drinking (um, have you ever been to a frat party? Those guys can drink until they can’t feel their toes: no girls necessary!)
- Safety: perhaps school admins are fearful of “domestic” violence issues increasing with guys & girls living together
- Enforcement: having single sex dorms would obviously require extra security/ or RAs. Some one would need to monitor the dorms at all times to make sure that people aren’t sneaking in.

So here’s my biggest issue: You can’t request to live in a single sex neighborhood, or to work with only girls or only guys when looking for a job, so why make dorms that way?

If colleges are supposed to prepare us for the “real world,” why are some of these institutions so against the norms of the real world? If you ask me, transitioning from coed dorms to single sex dorms is backwards, and anti-progressive. What do you think?

Think the idea of living with a dude in that beloved, 2×4 box of a dorm room is out of the question? Think again! More and more schools (including Dartmouth, Cornell and Michigan…maybe they’re onto something?) are introducing gender-neutral housing which allows men and women to become roommates in dorms. I’ve always thought this should be an option because I have a lot of studly guy friends if we’re legal adults, we should be able to choose who we want to live with!

Most of the participating schools made the change because gay, bisexual and transgendered students felt more comfortable with an opposite-sex roommate, but they restricted the option to housing with “gay themes.” I applaud the universities for trying, but why not allow the same for the general population? Yes, I understand the obvious potential for sex, but does having a same-sex roommate prevent anyone from bringing someone else home to their twin-XL? I think not. Actually, I know not.

My group of friends is pretty mixed between guys and girls, and now that we’re upperclassmen and live off-campus, it seems totally normal for them to share houses. In fact, it seems quite splendid. But would it be quite the same to co-habitate with a manly man in that closet I used to affectionately consider my room? Read More »

[It's pretty obvious that the average CollegeCandy reader has some very strong opinions. Opinions that she likes to share with everyone on the site. We love a strong woman, so we thought we'd give her a real forum to discuss her thoughts, feelings, and perspectives. Every Friday I'll be featuring a hot topic (like a textbook throwdown!) and leaving it up to you, the readers, to duke it out. So, read it and get your debate on in the comments section below!]

Two weeks into the semester and most of my friends are already sick enough of their new roommates to have practically moved in with their boyfriends. All this shuffle got me to wondering – wouldn’t it be easier if they could all just live with the boys the way they almost are now?

Turns out that I’m not the only one thinking along these lines. In fact, murmurs have been floating around for the last couple of years about some schools that are not only making their dorms coed, but their dorm rooms.

That’s right, mixed gender roomies. Read More »