UCLA May OK Co-Ed Roommates To Accommodate Transgender Students
LOS ANGELES (CBS) — The longtime gender barriers on campus at UCLA may be about to shatter.
KNX 1070's Jon Baird reports students could soon have the option of living with a member of the opposite sex as early as 2012.
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Under the proposal, a male student could request to share a dorm room with a female friend or vice versa.
And while no final decision has been made as of yet, Suzanne Seplow of UCLA's office of Residential Life said it is under consideration.
"Students wouldn't be placed in this circumstance," said Seplow. "They would still be placed based on gender, but if there was a request or a returning student requested it, they certainly could have the option."
Seplow explained that the proposal is in reaction to a trend popping up throughout the nation that initially began as a way to work with people who are transgendered — for instance, someone born biologically as a man, but living as a woman, who might not be comfortable living with a male roommate.
"UCLA is just following suit of this national trend," said Seplow — one that could lead to your typical male and female students rooming together.
Students at the Westwood campus seemed divided along gender lines as to the benefits of co-ed roommates.
"I think that's perfectly fine, because once people move out, many people share apartments," said one male student.
But a fellow female student had her own observation.
"Guys and girls are very different," she said.
