Exeter Announces All-Gender Housing Option
Exeter announced its first ever all gender housing option for the upcoming 2017-2018 school year last Thursday, Mar. 23 in an email from Dean of Students Melissa Mischke to the student body. According to the email, the gender-inclusive housing option will provide a supportive residential experience that meets the needs of all students regardless of their gender expression, gender identity, sex or sexual orientation. Mischke invited all students to apply to move into the gender-inclusive dormitories, which will most likely be Williams House and Kirtland House.
“We are looking for students who want to be more involved in their place of residence, who want to actively create and question the community they live in.”
After years of discussion centered on the need for an alternative housing option, a faculty-comprised task force dedicated to research and the establishment of such a program came together to create a thoughtful proposal that was considered by all members of the Exeter community: deans, dorm heads, students, faculty, and school leadership, including the trustees. The school also collaborated with Phillips Academy Andover, which will implement a similar program starting next year.
According to the teachers who worked towards the all gender housing program, the goal is ultimately to provide an experience where all students feel comfortable and welcomed in their residential environment. Future dorm head of the gender inclusive dorm and English Instructor Courtney Marshall expressed her excitement at the school’s creation of such supportive spaces for students. “The residential component is key to student success and happiness, so while we can definitely develop curriculum and activities, students also need a warm and welcoming place to live in community and make friends,” she said. “Everyone involved has thought deeply about why this is the right thing to do and consulted with a variety of experts on the best way to move forward.”
Lower Adrian Kyle Venzon agreed that the changing of Exeter’s current housing system will give sanctuary to students regardless of their genders. “I think the new program will create a dorm where people who don’t identify with their birth sex can feel comfortable, since as of now our dorm culture is very cisgendered,” he said. “We don’t have any space except for that. This change will bring a lot of positive effects.”
In its pilot year, the gender housing option will only be open to returning students, but if a new student expresses interest, they will have the opportunity to apply and to be interviewed for possible admission into the dorm. The Dean’s Office will also be in close communication with parents, making sure that students have discussed the all gender housing option with them.
According to English Instructor Alex Myers, who was integral to the planning of the open gender housing option, the school wants students passionate about their community to inhabit the new houses next year. “We are looking for students who want to be more involved in their place of residence, who want to actively create and question the community they live in,” he said. “We are also looking for students who are mature and realistic about the challenges of living in such a deliberate community.”
According to many, the presence of gender inclusive housing will affect the entire student body. Marshall described the effect as a “positive consequence,” explaining that the housing program will alleviate the issue of gender binary being so ingrained in Exeter’s culture. “ It will cause us to question the supposed ‘naturalness’ of gender roles and expectations,” she said. “I see this initiative as an attractive feature of the school and a way to attract new students.”
Myers also stressed the importance of providing a supportive and welcoming residential situation that is not based upon the gender binary.
“All students, regardless of gender identity could potentially be part of the dorm,” he said.
Though upper Elliot Stork supports the new housing option, he expressed concern that the participating dorms may become known as “trans dorms.” “I think that the introduction of housing whose very purpose is to include everyone and give everyone a place to belong has been a long time coming,” he said. “However, one downside of the program, I think, could be that the participating dorms very well may become the ‘trans’ dorms, when in reality, these dorms are intended to house anyone that wants to be in a different type of community. I hope the communities in these dorms will be as inclusive and tight-knit as they were designed to be.”
In response to Stork’s concern, Dean of Residential Life Arthur Cosgrove explained that the pilot program will develop and grow as more students and dorms become involved in the program. According to the original proposal, “the dorms will engage in active and regular communication, including questioning and re-articulation, of expectations to work towards cultural humility, respect for individual needs, and respect for community needs.”
Cosgrove also expressed appreciation for the cooperation from the students who will have to move to other dorms or houses on campus, saying, “I would like to thank the students in Will House and Kirtland who will need to change dorms for their understanding and unselfishness.”