Gender-Inclusive Housing (GIH) offers a supportive and inclusive living option where two or more students can share a multiple-occupancy apartment or room by mutual agreement, regardless of their assigned sex or gender identity.
This option is designed to provide comfortable accommodations for:
- Students exploring or discovering their gender identity
- Students who do not wish to be identified by gender
- Transgender and non-binary students
- Students who feel more comfortable living with a roommate of a different gender
Residence Halls with Gender-Inclusive Housing
Southern has five residence halls reserved for gender-inclusive housing: Neff Hall, Brownell Hall, West Campus Residence Complex, Schwartz Hall, and North Campus Residence Complex. Students in gender-inclusive housing may also choose to indicate another hall preference. Selection/placement is based on hall/room availability and credit status.
Neff Hall offers a gender-inclusive housing community comprised of one floor where all students living on that floor have opted into gender-inclusive housing. Students have a chance to connect with their peers and engage in a more lively community. This can help residents feel a sense of belonging to both their hall and the campus, get connected to important resources at Southern, and learn and thrive in a safe environment. Programming and events may include social events focused on building and uplifting the transgender and non-binary community; involving residents in gender-based discussions; and collaborating with the university’s Sexuality and Gender Equality (SAGE) Center.
Roommate Selection
All students opting into gender-inclusive housing will participate in the room selection process and will be able to match with their own roommate through their MyHousing portal. All students selecting each other as roommates must opt into gender-inclusive housing. Students can also opt into gender-inclusive housing and be assigned a roommate who has also opted in; in this option, students are matched with another student based on credits, age, class standing, and hall preferences.
Bathroom Options
Every residence hall at Southern offers all-gender restrooms on the first floor of each building. Students in gender-inclusive housing will also have access to either a private or shared all-gender restroom that offers shower facilities. Southern also has several all-gender restrooms across the entire campus. You can access the map of these restrooms through the Sexuality and Gender Equality Center (SAGE Center).
Applying for Gender-Inclusive Housing
Students interested in Gender Inclusive Housing can select this option through their standard housing application. Students are not required to explain or reveal their reason(s) for choosing to live in gender-inclusive housing. All students opting into Gender Inclusive Housing must follow all housing policies, procedures, and deadlines and complete an agreement indicating their understanding of the terms and conditions of this housing option.
Southern discourages students of any sexual orientation who are in a relationship from living together in a residence hall. This option is intended for students who want to live with a roommate regardless of assigned sex or gender identity.