Living on-campus at the University of Connecticut has always meant same-sex housing, however a new pilot program introduced by ResLife this year is allowing some students to live with roommates of the opposite gender.

The pilot program for gender-neutral housing consists of six students, who live in a co-ed suite in Garrigus Suites according to Vu Tran, a 3rd-semester business major and a participant in the program. The suit consists of two rooms connected by a bathroom with three women living in one room and two men and one female occupying the other.

ResLife has been talking about gender-neutral housing for a couple of years, according to Maureen Armstrong, coordinator of housing assignments for ResLife at UConn. This is the first year UConn has tried this type of undergraduate housing.

“One of our goals for the 2007-2008 academic year was to try to develop gender-neutral housing to meet a variety of needs,” Armstrong said.

Some students have requested to live with cousins or siblings of the opposite sex for religious or cultural reasons, according to Armstrong.

Another need that Reslife is hoping to address in particular is that of the rising transgender community at UConn, according to Armstrong. In the past, UConn has dealt with the housing needs of transgender students on an individual basis.

The problem with this process was that it forced students to approach housing services with their needs, Armstrong said. The hope with gender-neutral housing is that it will give students an opportunity to live in the situation that is most comfortable for them without having to explain why. …