Gender Neutral Housing @ USC

 

The University of Southern California’s mission expresses that the Trojan Family is “a genuinely supportive community” that "welcom[es] outstanding men and women of every race, creed, and background"[1] and the University's Department of Residential Education (ResEd) expresses that they are “committed to providing purposefully inclusive communities.”[2]

 

Recognizing that a number of students are not comfortable in spaces that enforce a gendered or binary arrangement such as that which is found in traditional University Housing arrangements and that these current accommodations reinforce gender identities that are not inclusive of all members,

 

And, keeping with the University mission and California State Law, which includes “gender identity” in the fair housing non-discrimination statement [3],

 

We, as members of the Trojan Family, believe that it is the responsibility of our campus facilities to accommodate all members of our community and respond to student needs to develop a community atmosphere that values diversity and promotes the dignity of all people.

 

Having Gender Neutral Housing options available in University-owned housing both on and off campus is the beginning of a more accessible and accommodating campus for all of us in the Trojan Family.

 

Thus, our proposed plan is as follows:

 

• All apartment and suite-style accommodations at the University of Southern California will be available to accommodate Gender Neutral Housing arrangements by the 2015 – 2016 school year

 

• The application for Gender Neutral Housing be an opt- in feature, so as to not affect any students who do not wish to participate in this program.

 

• The application for USC Housing provides an option for a student to not report their gender as a factor in their housing arrangement if selecting the Gender Neutral program.

 

• We propose that the application process be available to incoming first year students, as well as the rest of the student body eligible for university-owned housing.

 

• A plan to extend the availability of Gender Neutral arrangements to dorm-style housing options (i.e. New North, Birnkrant, Pardee, Mark's Tower, etc.) should be developed to further accommodate incoming first year students.