It all started with coed dorms. Then there were coed hallways. Even coed bathrooms. Now coed dorm rooms are breaking the last gender barrier in college life. Colleges and universities across Oregon are starting to allow anyone to room together on campus, regardless of gender.
At Oregon State University, that means Ben Church, 19, could live with his girlfriend, 20-year-old Jessica Larson, this year in a two-room suite on campus.
“I couldn’t ask for a better roommate,” Church says. “Because it’s someone I know so well already, and someone I share everything with already.”
They live in a new “gender inclusive” wing with about 10 other students who wanted an alternative to single-sex dormitory rooms. The new housing option is so popular at the Corvallis campus that it is expanding to about 60 students next fall.
