<p>I remember barracks raids in technical school at our “Single-Sex Dorms”
Folks be jumping out 3rd story windows to stop from getting caught, guys and gals.
These folks had a lot more on the line than wasting mommy and daddies tuition money too. Point is, call it what you want, you’ll never stop the coming of age drugs, sex, and alcohol.
Might as well let them get it out of their system in the daylight than watch’em break their necks at night.</p>
<p>I ended up in an all-guys dorm freshman year, and while I enjoyed my experience and made some great friends, I do wish that I had chosen a co-ed dorm because all my friends who were in co-ed dorms seemed to know so many more people than I did.</p>
<p>I’m taking this with a grain of salt as it comes from a religious university.</p>
<p>There seems to be a lot of negative assumptions here from both parents and the article about the “moral inadequacies” of “young people.” I know things might seem a certain way from what’s represented in the media and on the news in regards to how 17-25 year olds act – but I assure you that most (emphasis on most) people intelligent enough to attend prestigious universities have some common decency and decorum with how to act around members of the opposite sex. Not all youth turn into sex crazed maniacs when they’re around someone of the gender they are attracted to.</p>
<p>At religious universities, I understand certain “moral expectations” make single sex dorms a necessity. However, I don’t think they should be forced upon students at secular schools. Not that I think it should be the parent’s decision anyway, as most students are legal adults during their freshman year, but if a student and their family think the student is mature enough to handle a mixed gender situation, then what’s the big deal?</p>
<p>My college had two types of dorms for freshmen, both of which were co-ed situations. The traditional dorms were arranged by floor (ie: boys on floor 1, girls on floor 2, boys on floor 3, etc.) Freshmen suites (where I lived) had 4 double rooms arranged in a suite, two of each gender per floor. Male and female students were not permitted to be roommates in freshmen dorms, nor did males and females share bathroom facilities.</p>
<p>I loved sharing a floor with fellow male students. I find it very hard to relate to a lot of females my age and many of my close platonic friends are men – so it was very easy for me to get along and make friends with the guys on my floor. There was nothing sexual about my relationship – or any of the other students’ relationships – with people of the opposite gender on our floor. The dynamic had a very “family” feel to it, as we always did things like make dinners together, order pizza, play pranks, etc. </p>
<p>Many of my friends who were on female-only floors often came over to my suite to visit to escape the constant girl drama and cattiness their dorms offered. I found the mixed gender setup to be very positive, healthy and an integral part of my college life. Perhaps it’s because I had attended co-ed school since kindergarten, but I think being thrown into an all-female situation would have made the freshmen year adjustment period very difficult for me.</p>
<p>I turned out just fine from living in a co-ed dorm. I just felt like sharing my experience with it because a lot of the “co ed dorms leads to promiscuous sex” talk here was making me sad.</p>
<p>If this thread is representative of young people in general (and it probably is), the kids don’t want to go back to single-sex dorms.</p>
<p>As one of the “older generation”, I can say this for myself, however. If the day comes when I am placed in a nursing home, if I have to room with an old man, just shoot me now! LOL</p>
<p>When dinosaurs roamed the earth and I was a college freshman, my roommate and I inadvertently found ourselves in a single sex dorm. We had both listed co-ed dorm as a low priority since only 1/4 of the dorms were single sex, and we mistakenly figured we would end up in a co-ed dorm. By and large, the girls in that dorm were the most uptight and religious in the school. Those who weren’t (and were normal in our opinions) partied elsewhere. So yes, there was self-selection vs. causation taking place; important difference. The good part was that I never had to contend with loud, bass heavy music that the guys seemed to favor, and since partying was elsewhere, the bathrooms, halls, and lounges never reeked of booze or pot.</p>
<p>Should all students live in single-sex dorms? No, definitely not. We’re in the 21st century.</p>
<p>But this article only talks about the freshman class at The Catholic University. If the self-selecting boys and girls were really making too much trouble together (though “less binge drinking, fewer accidents, less depression” as reasoning is ********), maybe they do need a wake-up call. But this is still BS. Nixing the entire thing is unfair to a large percent of students. This president guy needs to find another way to stop his troublemakers.</p>
<p>Skyhook–I think a lot of people would feel the same way if they were in the same bedroom as an opposite gender student. In my school even the new mixed gender apartments are usually set up so the two male students share a bathroom and the two females share another. (In these apartments everyone has their own bedroom)</p>
<p>I wonder how, by this president’s logic, gay students come into the mix? Or does he pretend they don’t exist? Of course a Catholic school will have less gay students choosing to go there, but I’d want to know if by his opinion depression, binge, drinking and accidents would increase if gay students were forced to live in single sex dorms?</p>
<p>I’ve lived in a co-ed by wing, and co-ed by room and there has been no problem whatsoever. It’s just a big part of social life.</p>
<p>I’m sure the article presents things differently, but people seem to think that living in a single-sex dorm is like living in a convent. I go to a women’s college, where all the dorms are consequently single sex. It’s really not as “bad” or “not fun” as people say. Then again, everyone at my college made the choice to come here and knew somewhat what we would face. I think single-sex dorms are an option that more colleges should employ, but they should be just that: an option.</p>
<p>At my school, there is one all-girls floor, but otherwise all of the dorms are co-ed. I am immensely grateful for my co-ed floor. on the one hand, I think I probably would have been fine living on an all-girls floor, since the majority of my close friends in high school were girls. But I think living on the same floor as other guys has made me much more open and relaxed. I now have a close group of friends that consists of guys and girls, and it’s a lot more laid-back. Our floor had relatively little drama and it was really nice to be able to hang out with the guys on my floor and know it was going to be low-key and casual. It also made me realize how much I value having members of the opposite sex as friends, and has expanded my horizons a lot.</p>
<p>In general, I think living close to members of the opposite sex actually makes it easier to understand how to interact with them in general. I understand a lot more about the male perspective now. But the guys on my floor are like my brothers - I wouldn’t date them, they wouldn’t date me, etc. We’re all cool. :)</p>
<p>I believe in any non-religious schools, this issue is a non-issue. But specifically for Catholic colleges, I would love to accept this sort of arrangement and I won’t grumble.</p>
<p>In all male dorms, do the guys end up developing the culture of fraternities, and likewise in all female dorms, the culture of sororities? That’s a real question.</p>
<p>Eh, I thought Catholic colleges already have ΑΔΓ and all these frat groups?</p>
<p>I went to an all-girls high school and couldn’t WAIT to get to college where I could live with and interact with boys on a regular basis. We have single-sex floors at UVA, but the buildings are co-ed (either boys/girls/girls or boys/boys/girls)…if I’m honest I’d prefer the UK university setup where you live in a mixed-sex flat of about 10 people and share everything, because I want to actually experience LIVING with boys!! And for the record, I have a boyfriend so wouldn’t be hooking up with any of those boys.</p>
<p>I believe that students should be given housing choices, including whether they want to live in “all freshman” or “single sex” housing. My own college students have found the level of drinking and hooking up to be much worse among the newest college students. The older kids seem to have matured a bit, at least in their experiences. My daughter’s peer group consists mainly of males, and if she were forced into all female housing she would probably choose to move off campus as soon as possible, given that option. In her dorm, the casual hook-ups are not necessarily kids who live in the same building. That doesn’t seem to make a difference at all. Even her friends at a very prestigious Catholic university with single sex housing and strict curfews have found a way around this on a very regular basis. As far as freshman housing goes, I don’t really see the point. Yes, these kids are all there for the first time, but kids going in with a good number of college credits (from AP and dual enrollment) tend not to have classes with the kids in their dorm anyway. Those with a certain level of maturity often prefer peers who are just a bit older and tend to seek out the upperclassmen. I’m all for choices!</p>
<p>Actually there has been at least one study that supports CU’s decision: </p>
<p>[Students</a> drink more and more often if living in coed dorms - USATODAY.com](<a href=“http://www.usatoday.com/news/education/2009-11-17-coed17_ST_N.htm]Students”>http://www.usatoday.com/news/education/2009-11-17-coed17_ST_N.htm)</p>
<p>The study, appearing today in the Journal of American College Health, surveyed 510 students living on five college campuses. Most 442, or 87% lived in coed dorms.</p>
<p>These students were more likely to say they’d had a sexual partner in the past year and more likely to think it’s all right “for two people to get together for sex and not necessarily expect anything further,” the study says.</p>
<p>They were also more likely to say they drink alcohol at least weekly and far more likely to say they drink excessively on a regular basis 41.5% reported weekly binge drinking. Among students in single-sex housing, the figure was 17.6%.</p>
<p>As for the self-selection aspect that students who choose single-sex dorms are less likely to drink, etc., the article goes on to say:</p>
<p>But Willoughby says his analysis controlled for “potential selection effects” and found that virtually none of the students chose to live in a single-sex dorm; colleges simply placed them there.</p>
<p>All other things being equal, he says, “there was still something unique about living in a coed dorm that was associated with risk-taking.”</p>
<p>I seriously doubt many more colleges will revert back to only single-sex dorms, but I do wish more would provide the option. Among the important factors my d is looking for in a school is the option to live in a single-sex dorm. It’s very difficult to find one that fits with the other criteria that is important to her.</p>
<p>Haha. They would have a fit at my school then because after first year you can have coed dorms (i.e. a guy and a girl could live in a double, etc).</p>
<p>I lived in a coed dorm in the dark ages (early '70s) and it was a much bigger deal then. I don’t think my parents actually realized it was coed! I would not want D in a solely female environment. She has always gotten along better with boys and the *****y girl factor would drive her crazy. She says the girls are a little nicer to each other when boys are around! If she wants to drink or hook-up, she’s going to, but not because of the proximity of males…and probably not in her dorm. I give her credit for more maturity than that.</p>
<p>tbh I think single sex dorms are a horrible idea, or at least I would have hated living there my first year. I am generally a pretty agreeable person but very unfeminine and can’t deal with girls who are behaving like typical girls. I am most comfortable in a mixed environment and I think an all-girls floor would not have helped me to transition into college.</p>
<p>It’s one thing for Catholic University to do it because they also have limited visiting hours and other restrictions.</p>
<p>But at most universities, I think that switching to single-sex dorms would make little difference. Kids would hang out (and possibly do other things) in their friends’ rooms at all hours of the day and night, regardless of gender, just as they have been doing for the past 35 years or so, since co-ed dorms and open visiting began.</p>