Gender Neutral Housing
Gender Neutral Housing
Gender neutral housing is defined as a housing option in which two or more students share a multiple-occupancy apartment or suite, in mutual agreement, regardless of the students’ sex or gender.
Housing & Residential Life is committed to working with all students to meet their housing needs in an environment that values diversity and promotes dignity of all people. Gender neutral housing is now available to upper-class students during the room selection process. First year students must contact Housing directly to be considered for Gender Neutral Housing. Cases will be evaluated on an individual basis.
Gender neutral housing gives students the option to reside with another person of a different gender or sex in order to provide a welcoming living environment. We hope that students in the process of discovering their gender identity, who do not wish to identify themselves by gender, gay or bisexual students, and students who feel more comfortable with a roommate of a different gender will be able to find a more compatible roommate and living situation within this community.
Gender Neutral Housing will be offered in pre-determined apartments throughout campus. Options include both single and double bedrooms and will include a range of prices.
During the Gender Neutral Housing (GNH) online selection process students have the option to either pull in an eligible roommate to fill the suite, or select a single space within a apartment/suite. If the student does not select a roommate, the space will remain available during the Gender Neutral Selection period to be filled by another student who is also interested in living in Gender Neutral Housing.
If the remaining space does not get selected during the Gender Neutral Selection process, Housing & Residential Life will either fill it with a student requesting gender neutral housing or a student of the same sex.
Should all rooms, suites, or apartments that have the gender neutral designation be filled at the time the group is eligible to select, the group will need to divide up and select from the single-gender inventory. (It is unlikely that a student will not have options if they desire to live in gender neutral housing because we designate rooms based on demand.)
If a roommate cancels their housing or moves out of the room for any reason, the remaining roommates must identify a new roommate to fill the vacancy. The Housing & Residential Life Office will define the time allocated to find a new roommate. This window of time will vary depending on time of year and the status of the housing waitlist. Typically, a resident will be allowed a minimum of 24 hours, but not more than one week to identify another eligible roommate. If another roommate(s) is not identified within the time period, Housing & Residential Life reserves the right to assign an interested student to the vacancy or to consolidate/relocate the remaining resident(s) to another gender neutral vacancy. At no time can specific room types be guaranteed.
Northeastern discourages students of any sexual orientation who are in a relationship from living together in a residence hall housing unit, although we do not question the student’s motives for wanting to live in a gender-neutral housing option.
It is the student’s choice to communicate with parents or family members about the decision to live in a gender-neutral housing environment. The Office of Housing & Residential Life encourages this conversation between parents or family members and students about the housing choice so that they can be in support of the student’s decision.