This fall, all Cal Poly students have the opportunity to sign up for gender-inclusive housing, allowing students of any gender identity to have preferred roommate arrangements.
Students who sign up will be placed in a room with a roommate or roommates who are accepting of their gender identity. These may include students who share the student’s gender identity or are allies to the LGBTQIA community.
According to Jo Campbell, executive director of University Housing and assistant vice president for Student Affairs, gender-inclusive housing will be available for students in Yosemite, Cerro Vista and Poly Canyon Village.
“Gender-inclusive housing (GIH) helps us create a welcoming community for students who identify as or are allies for transgender, genderqueer or gender questioning (TGQQ) students,” Campbell said in an emailed statement to Mustang News. “We have GIH in Yosemite, Cerro Vista and Poly Canyon Village currently and we plan to work with students and other campus partners to examine expansion to other buildings in future years.”
Though this program has existed since the 2012-13 academic year, gender-inclusive housing was only available at Poly Canyon Village to continuing students. This year, the university is expanding the program to all incoming Cal Poly students and having it in both Poly Canyon Village as well as Yosemite and Cerro Vista.
“I think gender-inclusive housing is a great way to acknowledge and support the transgender community by showing them students are very accepting and supportive,” incoming business administration freshman Stefan Kornarens said.
The program is being reinitiated in response to the 41 demands that were created and given to administration by SLO Solidarity last year. SLO Solidarity is a student activist group created after derogatory statements about Muslims and LGBTQ individuals were written on a Free Speech Wall on campus.
Correction: A previous version of this article stated Jo Campbell was the vice president of student affairs. Her title has been corrected to executive director of University Housing and assistant vice president for Student Affairs.