The University of Minnesota Duluth is rolling out a new course of study and a housing option in its efforts to become a more inclusive campus.

Gender-inclusive housing will be offered next fall, along with an LGBT minor.

UMD announced Tuesday that students opting into the gender-inclusive housing will be able to select apartments with roommates who are any combination of genders. The choice will be available at UMD's five campus apartment buildings, said Jeremy Leiferman, director of UMD's Housing and Residence Life.

Leiferman said gender-inclusive housing won't be forced on students and that students will need to opt in to the program. It will include conversations with students as they figure out where to live, he said.

Leiferman said some students have told him that they don't feel that they can live in traditional on-campus, single-gender housing.

A working group spent a year studying student housing, seeking input from the Queer and Allied Student Union and the UMD GLBT Commission, which stressed the importance of removing the gender barrier for transgender students, according to UMD.

The trend toward gender-inclusive housing began about 15 years ago in New England with the idea that colleges and universities should provide housing for all gender identities, rather than only providing housing separated by gender, and it has been slowly building in momentum in the rest of the country, Leiferman said.

The move to offer gender-inclusive housing also helps UMD with its strategic goal to become a more inclusive campus, Leiferman said.

UMD Student Association President Jacob Froelich, a member of the working group, said feedback on gender-inclusive housing indicates that the time is right to have it at UMD.

"I'm really appreciative of all the support that we've gotten on campus and from the Student Association, the voice of the students. They voted strongly in favor of approving the policy," Froelich said in a statement.

UMD recently learned that it would not be considered for an annual LGBT-friendly designation it has received the past two years from Campus Pride, a national nonprofit for student leaders and campus groups that work to create safe environments for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender students. Campus Pride announced Feb. 19 that it was not considering UMD for its annual LGBT-friendly designation because of the university's decision not to renew the contracts of women's hockey coach Shannon Miller and the three women on her coaching staff, who all are either gay or bisexual.

In its response to the Campus Pride announcement, UMD said it was disappointed in the group's decision but noted the school's ongoing efforts to make the campus more inclusive, including efforts to introduce gender-inclusive housing.

New LGBT minor

A new minor has been created to focus on the history, politics and cultures of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and intersex identities and perspectives, the school has announced. Courses for the minor will explore the diversity of LGBT communities, the history and present conditions of sexual identity formation, and the functioning and institutionalization of ideologies of sexuality in a democratic society.

The LGBT minor will be offered beginning this fall after faculty in Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies spent two years developing the program. Although part of the reason to create the minor was to reflect the renamed department - which changed from Women's Studies to Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies - the stronger impetus was to demonstrate UMD's commitment to an inclusive campus, the school said in a news release.

George Hoagland, an assistant professor instrumental in the minor's creation, said, "Offering the LGBT minor is a real indicator of what the campus climate is like. When these programs are available, it makes a statement that this is important to us."