LGBTQ students at U of S to get specialized housing
LGBTQ students at the University of Saskatchewan are getting their own dedicated apartments in residence.
The pilot project starting this September features a trio of four-bedroom apartments in the College Quarter set aside for LGBTQ students.
"What we've created here is a specific apartment complexes where they will live with other queer identified students so that when they come in they know that they're going to live with people who will accept them," said Sarah Sotvedt, the university's student life manager.
The three apartments are going to be in the same area of the building, in a corner at the end of a hallway, which she describes as a "community within the larger community." People who identify as male will be housed together, and people who identify as female will be housed together.
Acceptance and community
Sotvedt said students involved in the project have said they expect to gain a sense of acceptance and community, and that they won't have to be fearful of what their roommates will think of them.
She also said living on campus has benefits because the students will have access to a high level of support and security. There are professional staff and security on call 24/7.
There is a need for this kind of housing, and for queer students to support each other, but not to be segregated. - Professor Simonne Horwitz, co-chair of the provost's advisory committee on gender and sexual diversity
Their initial plan was to offer one apartment, but when they put the call out to students the response was so overwhelming they expanded the pilot project.
The plan for the first year is to have 12 students in the program, all of whom had already applied to live in the College Quarter. The goal is to expand the project to the rest of the student residences by fall 2020.
In addition to the housing arrangements, the students will receive specialized welcome packages and university staff will be working with the students one-on-one and collectively to offering other programming.
Not segregated, says professor
Sotvedt said the initiative started gradually, with the university helping students who identified as LGBTQ on a case-by-case basis.
University administrators had heard from LGBTQ students who said they weren't always comfortable in their environments.
"Their roommates are maybe from the culture where they didn't know about what it means to be queer and they're uncomfortable with them, or perhaps their roommates are using them as a learning opportunity to try to learn about what it means to be queer," Sotvedt said.
Professor Simonne Horwitz, co-chair of the provost's advisory committee on gender and sexual diversity, told CBC Radio's Saskatoon Morning that the program is unique because the students aren't separate from other students living in residence.
"There is a need for this kind of housing, and for queer students to support each other, but not to be segregated," Horwitz said. "We can show there's a line that can be drawn between still being supported but also being part of the bigger university context."
Horwitz said this program is also unique because it's not top-down — it's coming from the students. They'll be working with the students throughout the year and assessing their experiences to inform future versions of the program.
