THE INTER-RESIDENCE ASSOCIATION GENERAL BODY THE UNIVERSITY OF VERMONT Resolution General Body Resolution No.: RF08-002
Date Submitted: 10/13/08
Introduced By: Chair of Student Advocacy, Sarah Glassman
Date Introduced: 10/22/2008 Date Reintroduced: 11/19/08
Date Action Taken: Signed: _______________________ President Just
Signed: _______________________ Chair Glassman
Signed: _______________________ Vice President Johnson
Signed: _______________________ Vice President of SGA, Kennedy
Resolution in Support of Gender-Blind Housing at the University of Vermont
WHEREAS, it is the current practice of the Department of Residential Life at the University of Vermont to only permit individuals of the same sex to live in the same room, WHEREAS, this practice is meant to ensure the safety and comfort of all parties in a room, which provides the perceptions that male/female combinations would create an unsafe environment, WHEREAS, we see this practice as discriminatory not only on the basis that it assumes universal heterosexuality, but also because it fails to take into account a variety of safety issues that arise for non-heteronormative individuals as a result of same-sex housing, WHEREAS, the current practice actually has the effect of placing some individuals in a more dangerous living situation than they would otherwise have had in gender-blind
housing; meaning the achieved impact of same-sex housing can in fact be the opposite of what was intended, WHEREAS, same-sex housing renders invisible or inconvenient the identities of nongender-normative individuals by recommending participation in a strict gender binary, WHEREAS, the option granted to non-gender-normative individuals of checking “transgender” under “sex” involves the serious risk of making one’s gender identity known to the Administration, possibly putting that individual in danger, WHEREAS, we find this practice antiquated as it perpetuates a system of oppression in which Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer identities are not recognized, and in which traditional gender roles are implicit to the system, WHEREAS, the first strategic goal of the University of Vermont is currently a commitment to diversity and we believe gender-blind housing is an essential step towards the achievement of that goal, BE IT RESOLVED that the Inter-Residence Association of the University of Vermont and the Student Government Association Senate of the University of Vermont jointly recommend that the Department of Residential Life and the University of Vermont adopt a gender-blind housing policy in a timely fashion. BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that it is the recommendation of both the Student Government Association Senate of the University of Vermont and the Inter-Residence Association of the University of Vermont that this new policy allow for voluntary placement in gender-blind housing and continue to allow for same-sex rooms and floors as desired.