Gender Neutral Housing

interesteddad
Fri, 10 Dec 2004 15:04:24 +0000

Swarthmore has a limited number of rooms available for opposite-sex sharing. These are only available in the upperclass housing lottery, not for freshmen. Some are two-person doubles. Others are for larger groups, such as the Lodges where five students share two large rooms, a kitchen, and a bath.

This housing is strongly discouraged for couples who are romantically involved because of the serious problems it creates for the housing dean when they break up and “can’t stand being in the same room” anymore. I read the policy as “strongly discouraged” being a polite way of saying the Dean of Housing won’t allow it.

As a practical matter, these mixed gender options are often selected by a group of girls and a gay guy. I also don’t think there is tremendous demand for mixed-sex rooms. The available number is fairly limited.