<p>i read that penn offers co-ed dorm rooms. does this mean that people check off "co-ed" and get placed with a random person of the opposite sex, or does it mean that couples can request to room together? the latter makes sense but the former seems messed up.</p>
<p>this is only available to non-freshmen who specifically request it together with roommates; it's used by couples and by members of the lgbt community</p>
<p>At lots of colleges, men and women share suites where they have separate bedrooms -- that's not really a big deal. Allowing different genders to share a one-room double is new most places that allow it, and it's something that has been pushed by transgendered students. I don't know that much about what happens at Penn, but at other places where they have this rule, it's (a) very little used, (b) seldom if ever used by couples, and (c) something that mainly exists so that transgendered students can have roommates who accept them for who they are (and don't have to take a definitive position on who they are). So if a biological woman who is living primarily as a man wants a male roommate, and the male roommate agrees, that's OK.</p>
<p>on the other hand, there are several co-ed bathrooms in the quad</p>
<p>They way JHS described it is basically what happens at Penn. Both "gender neutral" housing and "gender neutral" bathrooms were pushed for by the lgbt community. Very few people live in the coed housing, but most of the halls in the quad have coed bathrooms.</p>
<p>alright, it sounds less messed up now. just another PC administrative decision to appease a minority group.</p>
<p>Co-ed bathrooms: also not a big deal. Co-ed bathrooms have been common since the 70s. Most of us grew up in houses with co-ed bathrooms, and so did most of our kids. </p>
<p>I wouldn't call this so much a "PC administrative decision to appease a minority group" as a practical recognition that there are circumstances where the normal rule of like-gender roommates is both difficult to administer (when you need to classify everybody as exclusively male or female) and lacking in good sense and compassion. Again, it's really not a big deal. In addition to which, for the 50% or so of Penn undergraduates who live off campus, I suspect men and women sharing an apartment (and a bathroom) is pretty darn common.</p>