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Gender Inclusive Housing

At Lewis & Clark College, gender-inclusive housing is available for all residential students. Campus Living welcomes students of all gender identities and strives to place students in the best housing arrangement based on their indicated needs and preferences.

All residence halls on campus are gender-inclusive with gender inclusive bathrooms with the exception of one single gender floor for men in Copeland, 2 single gender floors for women in Copeland, and one single gender floor for women in Spruce.

In order to ensure our housing processes are equitable and inclusive for all residents, Campus Living will not automatically assign roommates based on sex assigned at birth. Students who apply to live on-campus will indicate their own gender identity and all gender identities⁺ they feel comfortable living with through our housing portal. Once housing applications are completed, Campus Living staff will work to ensure that students are paired with a suitable roommate.

Learn more about terminology related to gender inclusive housing.

*Any personal information Campus Living receives about students’ identities, including gender identity and pronouns, will stay within our office. Students may contact our office at any time to change their gender identity and/or their roommate gender preferences. Official gender identity and name changes with the College should be made with the Office of the Registrar.

⁺The gender identity options on our housing portal application are as follows: Man (cis), Man (trans), Non-Binary/Gender Non-Conforming, Woman (cis), Woman (trans). Campus Living recognizes that these options are limited and may not include the specific gender you identify with. As we work to develop and familiarize ourselves with our housing portal and processes, we do intend to include a more expansive list of gender identities.

Returning Resident, Gender, and Room Selection

During roommate group building and room selection, residents will be able to view the gender identity of the other students who participate in this process. However, technology is never perfect, and sometimes students with conflicting gender identity book into the same space during selection.

Here is how Campus Living addresses these gender identity issues when they arise as a result of room selection:

The first student to book into the space is given priority. We will work to re-book the second occupant into a new space if their gender identity does not align with the occupant who booked first into the space We will review the second occupant’s building and room preferences to make a room change. We will also sometimes reach out to residents to offer them different rooms based on what we have available if their preference isn’t possible for placement.
- Example- A man who only wants to live with another man books into a Holmes double. A woman books into the second bed. We would work with her on a new room booking.

Hartzfeld rooms are two doubles that share a bathroom, also known as a suite. We review all occupant identities in suites and re-book residents into different suites if necessary. We use the preferences of the first occupant who books into a suite when reviewing who needs to be re-booked.
- Example: Two women book into the A side of a Hartzfeld suite first. A non-binary student and a man book into side B later that day. The two women in side A prefer to live with women only. We will work to re-book the second group of students who book into side B.
Apartments are also subjected to gender identity preferences and the same rules apply as a Hartzfeld suite even though all apartments have single sleeping rooms. The first apartment occupant will be used for gender identity preference review. We will book others into a new space as necessary.