Housing is shaking things up for the 2,700 students who live on campus each year.
The changes, which will go into effect next Fall Semester, won’t affect how many students can live in the dorms, but they will determine who can live where.
One of the biggest changes is that Gateway Heights, the only dorm with floors segregated by gender, will instead have entire buildings for one gender. Additionally, sophomores will now be able to live there in addition to first-year students. Daysha Moes, the assistant director of Housing and Residential Education, said the changes were inspired by feedback they received from students.
“We are constantly assessing the needs of our students, and we solicit feedback from them,” Moes said. “Some of the data we were hearing about were these changes.”
Moes said more students were returning after their first year and they wanted more places to live, which led to many of the changes.
Brandon Pope, a freshman in biomedical engineering who lives in Gateway Heights, said he won’t be in the dorms next year because he’ll be on a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He said while he personally prefers integrated dorms, he can see some benefits.
“I think, for some, this segregation could provide a greater sense of security. Unless every dorm becomes completely segregating, I have no problem,” Pope said.
Moes said students can choose which gender they identify as when they apply for housing.
“We saw students would be interested in living in a single-gender buildings, and we really wanted to create that safe space,” Moes said.
Sophomores will also be able to live in the Sage Point dorms and Housing and Residential Education will add a Living Learning Community. This community will provide floors designed to deliver a supportive space for students who prefer a more intensive educational and social environment usually tailored to one major or department.
Downtown Commons 2 will house graduate students as well as the undergraduates who already live there.
Pope said with the exception of the gender change to Gateway Heights, the changes seem “a bit unnecessary.” He thinks Housing and Residential Education should focus on providing a few more entertainment options and worry a little less about who could live where.
“They could put in a ping pong table — that’d be great,” Pope said.
Moes said students can provide feedback at the office in Benchmark 822 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., or contact the group via email at [email protected].
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