Kate Murphy

kmurphy@enquirer.com

Northern Kentucky University is expanding accommodations for transgender students this year by opening flexible housing to all students for the first time.

“We need to make sure the decisions we’re making on campus are inclusive to all of our students,” said Bonnie Meyer, NKU's first director of the Office of LGBTQ Programs & Services.

Flex housing options for students of all gender identities to live with someone who isn’t of the same biological sex. It ensures the housing application is not limited by the traditional gender binary.

This is the first year flex housing has been available for incoming transgender and transfer students.

Flex housing offers suite-style rooms and every residence hall offers the privacy of a private restroom. And there is no additional cost.

NKU also incorporates gender-inclusive restrooms into every new building on campus, including the campus recreation center that opened a year ago.

Campus Pride, a national nonprofit, developed an LGBTQ-friendly rating system for campuses as a resource for prospective students and their parents.

NKU earned 3.5 out of five stars for its programming and Meyer said that ranking should go up in the next two weeks because of the university's recent updates.

Transgender in Cincinnati: Big man on campus

The University of Cincinnati earned 2.5 out of five stars at campuspride.org, but that was before UC was identified as having gender-inclusive housing and restrooms.

No other local universities were listed in the Campus Pride index, including Miami and Xavier.

Miami offers multiple options for students seeking gender-neutral housing and this is the first year students could indicate an interest on the housing application.

Miami residence life staff meet with incoming and current students individually to talk about the best way to meet their needs. Students can live in apartment-style buildings or any of the renovated or new buildings, all of which have a single stall lockable restroom on every floor.

The prices range based on the building. Single rooms are more expensive than doubles, but there is no extra cost if there’s an in-suite bathroom.

“We meet with each student on a case by case basis to talk about the best way that we can meet their needs,” said Colleen Bunn, assistant director of residence life at Miami.

She said Miami has about 25 students using the gender-inclusive housing on the Oxford campus, which has grown from only a few in 2014.

The university is exploring the option of adding a living/learning community on campus and talking to students to see if it’s something they would want.

Miami also has an interactive map that identifies more than 50 gender-inclusive bathrooms on its website. Most of the signage is marked with "restroom" or a joint male/female stick-figure.

Incoming Xavier students were able to check a “transgender” box on their housing applications for the first time last spring.

Fewer than five students have identified as such, but Xavier will work to accommodate students who might be transitioning and want to explore different housing options.

Students select their own housing and roommates based on their gender identity through the school’s new online housing program.

Only one residence hall at Xavier has common-area bathrooms, the others are suite-style or apartment-style. Any student, regardless of their gender identity, can request a single or double bedroom with a shared, but private bathroom. The cost depends on the building and the other amenities students want in the room.

“That’s the beauty of the whole thing,” said Lori Lambert, senior director of student affairs. “It’s just like every other student experience.”

Xavier has 58 gender-neutral bathrooms in non-residential spaces, such as classroom buildings and the Gallagher Student Center.

The university is working in the next few months to try to get new signage for the gender-neutral bathrooms.