Inconsistencies in Coed Housing

Nebraska Wesleyan University housing.

A loaded subject, from my experience. Luckily, I obtained one of the few spots in the Townhouses this semester – and let me tell you, especially after more than a year in Centennial, it has been (by far) the best housing arrangement I’ve had at NWU. The amenities speak for themselves: a personal room, a bathroom shared with one other person, a full kitchen (including stove and dishwasher), a living room and a washer/dryer set.

Those are all wonderful, but the key to the arrangement this year has been who I live with. A coed group, we are among a small fraction of Wesleyan’s housing facilities
that allow men and women to live together. Coed living undoubtedly wouldn’t work for everyone, but for us the formula has eliminated drama and left us wishing we would all be returning in the spring.

The dorm scenery has evolved over the years, once primarily resembling Johnson’s single-sex model. Today, colleges around the country are dramatically changing that system by permitting men and women to not only live in the same building or on the same floor, but in the same room. More than two-dozen schools, including Brown and Harvard, have incorporated what is being called gender-neutral housing.

I won’t go so far as to suggest NWU follow their lead – just yet. I will, however, draw attention to an inconsistency: White and Heim halls, the Suite-style living, house four people per suite. Each consists of two bedrooms, two bathrooms, a kitchenette and a living room. The current policy requires that all four roommates be of the same sex. If it were changed to permit mixed housing (two members of each sex), it would be consistent with the Townhouse guidelines. Bedrooms and bathrooms are separate
and private, which strikes me as the only serious opposition to such a proposal.

The NWU Student Handbook asserts that “members of this vibrant learning community accept the uniqueness of each individual and embrace dialogue and the free exchange of ideas in order to achieve understanding and respect for others.” When it comes to rooming choices, what works for some is not guaranteed to work for all. Attention to and reevaluation of the Heim and White Hall roommate policy will reflect the Handbook’s statements about campus life and support a different style of student living relationships.

I can only guess how positive my previous housing experiences would have been if I had discovered earlier how wonderful coed roommates can be.