Collins to offer gender inclusive floor

Starting next year, one floor in Collins Living-Learning Center will be converted into a gender inclusive floor.

There will be 15 single rooms available to anyone who is interested, and the four double rooms on the floor will be available to anybody, regardless of gender identity.

Furthermore, the floor will have a main gender-neutral restroom available to any of the floor residents, as well as a smaller, private bathroom.

We think this is a fantastic idea.

IU has had co-ed dorms for several decades, and many of us have matriculated through such a living experience.

However, these dorms commonly have clearly delineated wings which separate male and female, and even the most egalitarian do not allow opposite-sex roommates.

There’s certainly nothing intrinsically wrong with the way IU housing is currently arranged.

It serves the needs of the vast majority of campus, which is frankly all that can be expected of an institution as large and diverse as IU.

Statistically speaking, a large majority of the student body is either content with or actively feels more comfortable with some degree of segregation between the sexes.

Furthermore, with co-ed floors, same-sex floors and single rooms, IU does try to offer an environment in which each student feels comfortable.

The introduction of a new gender inclusive floor is a laudable effort on the part of IU to appeal to an even broader segment of the campus population.

While some have expressed concerns that this represents a ghettoization of these students, we believe that couldn’t be further from the truth.

The floor is meant to be a bastion of tolerance and acceptance, and furthermore, Collins hardly has a reputation as a judgmental dorm complex. 

A campus that has the Kinsey Institute ought to grasp the world of nuance in separating students from their peers and placing them with people who they are likely to identify.

It’s functionally no different than the principle that organizes the Living Learning Centers — dorm floors comprised of people with the same academic interests.

This is a bold and exciting experiment, not just for people who do not conform to traditional sex or gender roles, but for all of us.

That’s who this floor is for, after all, anybody who wants to live there.

We can’t think of a more immediate or resonant gesture to promote tolerance and acceptance in our community than that.