Spring Break
The Daily OrangeNon-gendered bathrooms converted in Lyons Hall
By Ashley Derbyshire
Posted: 3/2/08, 10:37 PM EST Section: News
Less than a year after the first gender-neutral bathrooms were introduced on campus, Lyons Hall residents chose to designate their non-communal restrooms by gender, which had not previously been designated by the university.
Lyons Hall, located at 401 Euclid Ave., consists of approximately 40 first-year residents. The building was completely renovated the previous summer. On each of the two floors, four non-communal restrooms accommodate the 18 students on each floor. These individual bathrooms each contain a shower, sink and toilet.
Of the two floors in the building, the second floor decided it would specify the restrooms at the beginning of the year.
Freshman Michele Suchecki, a second-floor resident, said the decision to separate the bathrooms by gender was made by everyone on the floor at the beginning of the year. They did it for cleanliness, she said.
Freshman Kyle Gulamerian, another Lyons Hall resident, said the decision was mostly based on female opinions because "girls don't like guys in their bathrooms." Many of the females on the second floor agreed with his statement saying males are simply "messier".
The third floor decided to keep its four bathrooms open to everyone. The resident advisor on that floor said there have been no problems with having both genders in the bathrooms.
Suchecki said the signs the residents created for the gender-specific bathrooms stayed up the whole fall semester, but when they returned from Winter Break, the signs were removed.
Lyons Hall became the first residence hall to incorporate hotel-style bathrooms on the floors.
"They were created as much because we know students like them, and because they're gender-neutral." Bill Longcore, associate director of residence life said.
All the residents interviewed agreed with Longcore saying the privacy was a luxury and not what students expect when they come to college.
Some students, however, do not know the campus has gender-neutral bathrooms. Evan Morrison and Morgan Tiedemann, both freshmen, said they had no idea the university had any non-gendered bathrooms.
Lyons Hall, located at 401 Euclid Ave., consists of approximately 40 first-year residents. The building was completely renovated the previous summer. On each of the two floors, four non-communal restrooms accommodate the 18 students on each floor. These individual bathrooms each contain a shower, sink and toilet.
Of the two floors in the building, the second floor decided it would specify the restrooms at the beginning of the year.
Freshman Michele Suchecki, a second-floor resident, said the decision to separate the bathrooms by gender was made by everyone on the floor at the beginning of the year. They did it for cleanliness, she said.
Freshman Kyle Gulamerian, another Lyons Hall resident, said the decision was mostly based on female opinions because "girls don't like guys in their bathrooms." Many of the females on the second floor agreed with his statement saying males are simply "messier".
The third floor decided to keep its four bathrooms open to everyone. The resident advisor on that floor said there have been no problems with having both genders in the bathrooms.
Suchecki said the signs the residents created for the gender-specific bathrooms stayed up the whole fall semester, but when they returned from Winter Break, the signs were removed.
Lyons Hall became the first residence hall to incorporate hotel-style bathrooms on the floors.
"They were created as much because we know students like them, and because they're gender-neutral." Bill Longcore, associate director of residence life said.
All the residents interviewed agreed with Longcore saying the privacy was a luxury and not what students expect when they come to college.
Some students, however, do not know the campus has gender-neutral bathrooms. Evan Morrison and Morgan Tiedemann, both freshmen, said they had no idea the university had any non-gendered bathrooms.
Viewing Comments 1 - 1 of 1
mzfitmama
posted 3/03/08 @ 11:11 AM EST
this is really much ado about nothing. just go to the bathroom, for goodness sake.
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