The decision, which came after a series of discussions between administrators and campus leaders in the LGBT community, is partially a response to the suicide of freshman Tyler Clementi, who jumped off the George Washington Bridge last semester after his roommate allegedly filmed a sexual encounter between Clementi and another male.
“In the aftermath of the Clementi tragedy, members of the university’s LGBTQ community told the administration that gender-neutral housing would help create an even more inclusive environment,” Rutgers officials said in a statement.
“Since then, the university has been exploring this in greater detail.”
“They were very clear about why this was important to them,” Rutgers Executive Director for Residence Life Joan Carbone said to Time about the students who campaigned for the change. “Living in a small space with someone who doesn’t accept who you are is a difficult situation.”
The pilot program, which is expected to include 20–30 students, will include rooms in three dormitories with gender-neutral bathrooms. Rooms will not be open to freshmen, and students will be required to know each other before applying to live together in the gender-neutral rooms.
If a mixed-gender rooming situation fails and one of the roommates moves out, the university plans to replace them with a person of the same gender of the reamining roommate.
Princeton, which began offering gender-neutral housing this year, currently allows mixed-gender groups of upperclassmen to live together in Spelman Halls.
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