Gender-Inclusive Housing Questions
Gender-Inclusive Housing provides safe, affirming, and inclusive community living options for students who are transgender, nonbinary, two-spirit, genderqueer, gender diverse, or in the process of discovering their gender identity.
Gonzaga University has offered Gender Inclusive Housing since 2017 and is among six Jesuit Universities and more than 400 U.S. universities and colleges to do so.
Gender-Inclusive Housing provides a safe, affirming, and inclusive community living option for students of the following identities and lived experiences:
- Transgender students
- Two-spirit students
- Nonbinary, genderqueer, and gender diverse students
- Students who do not wish to be identified by any sex or gender identity
- Students who are in the process of discovering their gender identity
- Students who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, or queer
Students who identify themselves as transgender or LGBQ+ and who do not have a roommate by a specific date (which varies based on room selection per population) are hand paired with an ally but are not hand assigned a room. They are then given the opportunity to select a space with the roommate during room selection. We highly encourage students to pick a space based on group size to guarantee that suite/apartment mate(s) are affirming of identities.
For new students who select transgender and/or nonbinary, we reach out to them directly to see if they have any specific requests or housing needs. Depending on their response, we may hand assign to a specific space to guarantee we accommodate them appropriately or we assist with ally roommate matching and let them participate in room selection.
For returning students (lower and upper division) who select transgender and/or nonbinary, we invite them to select before general selection so that they can pick a space that matches the group size. Historically, these students have a group they would like to live with. Depending on the situation, we hand assign these students or temporarily adjust our database to have rooms/apartments that reflect “neutral” so that students can see rooms and select.
Students who express interest in Gender-Inclusive Housing, but do not have a preferred roommate, will have the opportunity to participate in roommate matching where they can search for allies and other profile specifics.
Gonzaga’s Gender-Inclusive Housing rooms are mixed in all communities, so parents and other students will not be aware of its Gender-Inclusive Housing designation if the student does not share specific information.
People are assigned space that corresponds with their sex assigned at birth, unless they opt into gender-inclusive housing or indicate gender identity on their housing application.