Phillips Academy Outlines Proposal for Open-Gender Dormitory
In an effort to eventually establish all-gender housing on their campus, Phillips Academy Andover has engaged in conversations surrounding gender identity similar to the ones taking place at Exeter. Upper Karissa Kang has spearheaded this initiative and recently introduced a detailed proposal in which she outlines a dorm that houses students of all genders who choose to live in it, but that does not require applicants to specify a certain group or gender identity. Currently, Andover’s policy permits transgender students to choose between living in a male or female dorm. Kang hopes that her proposed arrangement will allow students to live in dorms without requiring that they conform to a specific gender.
“We’re a very open and welcoming community.”
Kang presented the proposal in December with the intention of fostering an inclusive living environment and cultivating equality for all students on the Andover campus. She envisions a safe space for students who do not wish to be subjected to the confining expectations of “being male” or “being female” and sees open gender housing as a way to support both cis and transgender students who are made uncomfortable by the limiting standards of femininity and masculinity. “Trans students are not the only ones affected by a lack of an all-gender housing option,” she said. “Single-gender housing can sometimes breed and perpetuate harmful expectations of masculinity and femininity in cisgender students as well.”
Kang’s proposal stipulates that students would only be placed in open-gender dorms upon specific request, and that preference should be given to students who would benefit the most from all-gender housing, namely those who are not at ease in single-sex dorms. However, Kang hopes that curious or adventurous students will explore the possibility of trying out an all-gender dorm. “All-gender housing would provide a safe space for both openly trans* and questioning students,” she said. Additionally, Kang proposed that faculty members, specifically dorm faculty, undergo training and education on the subject of gender identity.
In her proposal, Kang suggested that the all-gender dorms range in size from 15 to 40 students. Depending on the interest generated by all-gender dorms, Kang envisions smaller open-gender dorms distributed evenly across campus, allowing residents more residential options within the realm of all-gender housing.
Under Andover’s current residential system, students are assigned a different dorm each year, and many dorms are reserved for just one grade, in contrast to the vertical housing model Exeter employs. In an ideal world, Kang foresees one large all-gender dorm, which would provide an immediate group of friends and acquaintances for residents. Under the terms of the proposal, lowerclassmen and upperclassmen in all-gender dorms of 30 residents or more would reside in separate halls, and an upperclassmen resident would act as prefect. According to Kang, the “junior-only halls,” which would be equivalent to a “preps-only floor” at Exeter, would allow juniors a space to become accustomed to life at Andover with other new students. For Kang, the installation of all-gender housing on campus would represent an essential step toward embracing equality at Andover. “I hope that Andover offers all-gender housing in the near future because it would be an important statement of trans* acceptance and inclusivity from the school,” she said.
Additionally, Kang drew attention to the fact that the once theoretical possibility of transgender and non-binary students transitioning into Andover dorms has become a reality. “There are trans* and non-binary students right now on campus who reside in single-gender housing but would prefer to live in all-gender housing,” she said.
She went on to explain that students attempting to transition from one gender to another face challenges in single-sex dorms that prescribe narrow expectations of gender identity. “It can be extremely difficult to begin one’s transition in a single-gender dorm where the gender binary is reinforced in even the most innocuous ways,” she said, giving the example of an email from a house counselor to the dorm beginning, “Hi ladies.”
Lower Nik Stork hopes that Exeter will adopt a similar arrangement to the one Kang has proposed, instituting an open gender dorm not limited to just transgender students. “There’s no avoiding being around people that aren’t like you, and Exeter strives to get you comfortable with people unlike you,” he said. “I see no reason for dorm life to be any different.”
Though all-gender housing will most likely take a while to implement at Exeter, tentative plans have been proposed for designating a floor in Merrill Hall on which students of all genders could choose to live. The dorm recently held a meeting to discuss this prospect in the hopes of making it possible for transgender, gender-nonconforming and cisgender students to live together. Because Merrill already houses at least two transgender and several non-binary students, many felt that it made sense to try an all-gender floor there first. This change would help eliminate certain assumptions or stereotypes associated with the dorm. Lower Nalo Turner said, “We don’t want people to automatically assume that if you’re from Merrill, and you don’t look the part, you’re trans.”
Senior Mei-An Nolan, who lives in Merrill, noted that many students in the dorm support the motion for an all-gender floor, saying, “We’re a very open and welcoming community.” However, she also pointed out that because Merrill is such a close group of students, “there are concerns that introducing cis males into that might interfere with our dorm culture of closeness.” An all-gender floor would mean anyone, including cisgender males and females, could live together, “which I think would freak a lot of parents, if not students, out,” Nolan acknowledged. Turner echoed these concerns and explained that because Merrill is such a family, some people are hesitant to implement a change that might cause students to leave the dorm if they or their parents disagree with it. However, he conceded that the all-gender floor in Merrill is a good place to start. “We know there are going to be problems, but Merrill is the best choice to start this,” he said.
As Exeter continues to work toward passing some form of all-gender housing, either as a floor, a house or an entire dorm, some students have expressed dissatisfaction at the slowness of the process. “Exeter is so behind–Exeter takes things too slowly,” prep Taylor Robertson said.
Other schools, including White Mountain School and Dublin School, are also in the process of establishing all-gender housing on their campuses. Turner acknowledged that it can seem scary to be the first school to make a bold and unprecedented change, but most often these changes are things to look back on with pride. “Maybe we should lead this time, instead of just following,” he said.