Skip to main content

Cornell University

Housing & Residential Life

Gender-Inclusive Housing

What is Gender Inclusive Housing?   

Gender Inclusive housing is for students who express their gender identity in a manner that may not be associated with a typical gender binary. This could include students who identify as non-binary, genderqueer, gender non-conforming, transgender or agender – to name just a few.  Priority for gender inclusive housing is given to students who may not feel comfortable in a legal sex-based assignment (i.e., male/female).  

Gender Inclusive housing is for students who want to live with another student or students who have different gender identities or expressions. Gender inclusive housing allows residents to be assigned together regardless of legal sex.  

Students who opt into gender inclusive housing should be open to living with a person of any gender: cisgender men and women, transgender men and women, nonbinary, agender, and genderqueer students 

Who is it for? 

Gender Inclusive housing is open to all residents regardless of their gender identity, expression, sex, orientation, etc.  This includes: 

  • Cisgender male and female students who want to live together 
  • Female, male, or non-binary identified students who want to live in suites with similarly identified students, regardless of legal sex 
  • Students of any gender identity who want to live with any other student, regardless of gender identity or legal sex 

Selecting Gender-Inclusive Housing for 2024-2025

Please note that all residence halls are mixed gender with the exception of Balch Hall (North Campus) and Lyon Hall (part of Flora Rose House on West Campus) which are open only to female- identified students.

What is Mixed Gender Housing?   

Mixed Gender housing encompasses a large portion of our housing portfolio and is when a floor/section of a floor and rooms are same gender but reside in the same building with students of another gender. Rooms and bathrooms would be same gender identified.  

First-year students, please select to opt in via the housing application by May 20. Transfer students, please select to opt in by June 1. 

 

Additional Resources: 

The history and implementation of gender-inclusive housing at Cornell: 

In Fall 2012, the Student Assembly adopted Resolution #12, "Adoption of a Gender-Inclusive Housing Policy," which called for on-campus gender-inclusive housing to be made available to all undergraduate students who select that option. According to the resolution, "The aim of gender-inclusive housing is to provide a safe living option for underrepresented minority gender non-conforming, gender queer, and transgender students," and to allow "students the option to live in the comforts of on-campus housing while exploring the cultural constructions of gender identity." Learn more about Resolution #12 at the Student Assembly website.

The resolution was endorsed by President David Skorton in late Fall 2012. For the first phase of the project, undergraduate students who participated in the Spring 2013 Room Selection process for 2013-2014 housing were able to select gender-inclusive housing in a Program House, in the Language House, in a University co-op, and through the West Campus Houses' and Upper-level Residence Halls' Selection processes. The same options were available for undergraduate students participating in the Room Selection processes since that time.

The project is continually being evaluated to enable students and staff to determine future steps for implementation. Since the 2017-2018 academic year, gender-inclusive housing has been available to all students.