Princeton is beginning to offer gender neutral housing (GNH) in Spelman dorms next year as a pilot-program, before assessing whether it should be offered across Princeton’s campus. Spelman suites are unique in that they consist of individual singles adjoined on a common hallway with a shared bathroom and kitchen. This is unlike most doubles and suites in upperclassmen housing, which consist of bedrooms shared between roommates. The decision to pilot the program in Spelman seems due to this difference, rather than in spite of it. There is a tacit recognition that shared bedrooms between members of the opposite sex would be less than ideal on Princeton’s campus. The pilot program’s plotted expansion should not be based on studies of its outcome in Spelman, as this would be unrepresentative of what GNH would look like if it were to spread to other buildings on campus.
GNH raises other concerns, a few of which are raised in the Daily Princetonian Editorial Board’s dissent:
http://www.dailyprincetonian.com/2009/10/26/24265/