2008 Woodie Awards
Kirk ends gender-blind bathrooms
By: David Seitz, Opinion Editor
Issue date: 9/21/07 Section: News
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Responding to complaints about privacy and safety, the Department of Residential Life has assigned fixed genders to all previously unspecified bathrooms in Kirk Residence Hall. The change comes after several years of conversation and action that have slowly led to the opening of more gender-blind spaces on campus.
Before this year, bathroom signs in many sections of Kirk were furnished with sliding adjustable signs, allowing residents of each section to make the gender assignment themselves. According to Res Life officials, assignments made by students were expected to be permanent as well.
"We went back to what we thought was the case all along," said Keith Edwards, director of Campus Life.
The intervention, Res Life officials say, came after numerous complaints from female students that the signs were being crudely misused by their male peers.
"Last spring, we heard from a number of female students and a number of parents that they were uncomfortable, that they didn't feel safe," Peg Olson, Res Life director, said. "Women living in other sections were going to Section One [which has always had assigned bathrooms] just to have a specific space."
The change should not be read as a step back for gender-neutral accommodations, Olson and Edwards were quick to emphasize.
Regarding the issue of gender neutrality, "all students, and particularly transgender students, should know we will work with them," Edwards said. "We've always been able to make accommodations for those students. With Kirk, we haven't come up with a solution, but we're happy to meet with students and work with their needs."
Currently, mixed-gender housing options are limited to suites in Grand Cambridge Apartments, George Draper Dayton, and Kirk, all of which include separate bedrooms. Shared private bathrooms in those residential facilities, as well as a communal bathroom in the Wallace basement and public restrooms in the basement of the Campus Center and the fourth floor of Old Main, are gender-blind, Olson said.
Before this year, bathroom signs in many sections of Kirk were furnished with sliding adjustable signs, allowing residents of each section to make the gender assignment themselves. According to Res Life officials, assignments made by students were expected to be permanent as well.
"We went back to what we thought was the case all along," said Keith Edwards, director of Campus Life.
The intervention, Res Life officials say, came after numerous complaints from female students that the signs were being crudely misused by their male peers.
"Last spring, we heard from a number of female students and a number of parents that they were uncomfortable, that they didn't feel safe," Peg Olson, Res Life director, said. "Women living in other sections were going to Section One [which has always had assigned bathrooms] just to have a specific space."
The change should not be read as a step back for gender-neutral accommodations, Olson and Edwards were quick to emphasize.
Regarding the issue of gender neutrality, "all students, and particularly transgender students, should know we will work with them," Edwards said. "We've always been able to make accommodations for those students. With Kirk, we haven't come up with a solution, but we're happy to meet with students and work with their needs."
Currently, mixed-gender housing options are limited to suites in Grand Cambridge Apartments, George Draper Dayton, and Kirk, all of which include separate bedrooms. Shared private bathrooms in those residential facilities, as well as a communal bathroom in the Wallace basement and public restrooms in the basement of the Campus Center and the fourth floor of Old Main, are gender-blind, Olson said.
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