Yesterday was National Coming Out Day, a day when advocates of gay rights and their allies show their support for the gay community. Among the many issues that this day brings to the forefront for Penn students is the fact that campus housing may be discriminatory toward certain gay students, or at least, may put them in uncomfortable living circumstances. This is one of the many reasons that the coed housing proposal, passed last semester by the Undergraduate Assembly, has consistently received strong student support.
At this point, more than a year after the issue began to gain public support, Penn officials should make a public decision on the issue, one way or the other. It is important to do this now, since students will soon be making plans for where and with whom they wish to live next year.
The coed housing proposal has been around for a long time. Long enough that the University has had plenty of time to consider it and weigh the pros and cons. In November of last year, the University Council's Committee on Pluralism had a closed meeting at which it discussed the UA's proposal, after hearing from its student proponents. But University officials have yet to announce whether or not they intend to implement the policy.
We believe strongly that Penn should join Brown University, Haverford and Swarthmore colleges and other schools in adopting a coed housing policy. It would hardly be revolutionary; at Penn, graduate students have been able to live in coed housing for more than a decade. However, even if University officials choose not to do this, they should announce their decision soon; they have had plenty of time to think about it.
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