Is anyone out there familiar with the “gender-neutral” bathroom policies in the residence halls? My daughter is interested in Brown, but unclear on how the bathrooms work and not interested in showering in a bathroom where male students would be present. It was mentioned in the info session we attended but not explained in detail. So we are wondering, are there locks on the doors of the shower stalls, are there single sex shower options available outside of the few single sex floors, etc…? Any general clarification would be helpful. We are not finding any info on the residence hall website. Thanks.
Some of the dorms have gender neutral bathrooms, but your daughter can request a female only floor (the bathrooms are single gender as well). I’m almost certain that gender specific requests are always met – many live in Andrews, which is very nice.
My understanding is that these policies are made at the local level. That means that dorm units meet and discuss preferences and work hard to accommodate everybody’s preferences (which is possible given that, at least in some dorms, there are multiple bathrooms with showers). So even if your daughter is not on a single gender floor, still she can have the privacy she desires in the bathroom.
In Keeney, there are private bathrooms where you can shower, too. I use them a lot, especially at first this year when I wasn’t used to the gender-neutral thing.