A student at the University of Tennessee took university housing options into his own hands when he proposed legislation to create gender-neutral housing on campus.

Jacob Clark, a junior at UT, worked with a team of people on the Diversity Affairs Committee to propose the bill, formally known as Bill 0113 “Bill to Promote Gender Neutral Housing at University of Tennessee.”

The bill, which was presented to the student government and senate, requests more diverse housing options that would allow gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender students, siblings or close friends to live in opposite-sex rooms, Clark said.

UT currently allows students to live in same-gender residence halls, residence halls with gender-separated floors or on floors with restricted access to the opposite sex’s side of the floor, he said.

“Students should have more housing options available,” Clark said. “The reason is irrelevant; the demand for a different option should be enough for the administration to do something about it.”

A major concern for opponents of the bill is that students in relationships might abuse the privilege of gender-neutral housing, Clark said, but the Diversity Affairs Committee did its research to prove critics wrong.

After surveying colleges across the country with gender-neutral housing, the committee found administrators were not having major issues with students abusing the housing choices, Clark said.

“We gathered information from schools across country and drafted a bill that had clear demands, but would not be too strong to be pushed away by administrators,” he said.

The bill successfully passed through the student representatives and then the student senate a few weeks later, Clark said. It is planned to take effect in the fall of 2014. He added that rumors on campus have circulated about the possibility of implementing the new style of housing before that time, starting with freshman and athletes.

“They (administration) are going to do something and it won’t be exactly what we want,” Clark said. “They usually do about half of what we want, but in this case I won’t shut up.”

Clark said students living in same-sex housing might feel pressured to come out right away or disclose personal information regarding their sexual orientation with a residence adviser or roommate.

Gender-neutral housing does not only give students the freedom to room with whomever they want, but it gives students, particularly the LGBT demographic, an option for acceptance, he said.

“Our campus is in a safe bubble,” Clark said. “Go about an hour off campus you are in a whole different world.”

Published on January 24, 2013 at 12:43 am

Contact Marissa: mjblanch@syr.edu