ODU offers designated housing for gay students

NORFOLK

This fall, for the first time, Old Dominion University will offer dedicated on-campus housing for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender students and their supporters.

ODU will be the third Virginia university to offer such housing, joining George Mason University and the University of Richmond. Elsewhere in the Southeast, only Duke University, in Durham, N.C., offers it.

The dedicated housing, called Lavender House, is intended to be a place where gay and lesbian students can feel safer and more accepted, ODU said in an announcement Thursday.

Charles Lowman, ODU's assistant director for housing and residence life, said Lavender House will build on efforts to match gay and lesbian students with roommates who will be comfortable with them.

"Having a dedicated residence space will make that matching easier, because Lavender House will be self-selecting," he said.

Lowman said having special living quarters doesn't mean gay and lesbian students are seeking to close themselves off from the rest of campus. Rather, he said, it will convey the message that the ODU community is open, welcoming and diverse.

"Any conversation we can start about this is helpful," said Kate Griffin, ODU's assistant director of new student and parent programs and chair of the university's Safe Space Committee. "Our goal is for ODU to be a leader in diversity in the Southeast."

Lavender House will be housed within an existing residence hall. The dedicated living quarters will meet a need identified by gay and lesbian students in a survey last spring, ODU said.

Other groups have appealed to the Office of Housing and Residence Life for dedicated housing spaces, and Army ROTC will have a reserved space this fall as well, the university said.

The Lavender House announcement comes at a time when gay rights and other social issues have assumed a high profile in the Virginia General Assembly. The news drew a range of reactions in Richmond.

Sen. Adam Ebbin, D-Alexandria, the only openly gay member of the Assembly, was glad to hear it.

"College can be a challenging and even dangerous place for students who are open about their orientation," he said. "Removing the pressure and the potential hostility from their living situation is desirable.

"Safety and a welcoming environment should be paramount in students' college experience."

Del. Bob Marshall, R-Prince William County, one of the Assembly's most outspoken social conservatives, called the move a wrongheaded distraction from the university's academic mission.

"Education requires discipline," he said. "When you don't invoke discipline, you're teaching that there are no limits on behavior.

"What does this have to do with academic excellence? This is adults capitulating their role as moral leaders in the community."

Del. Kenny Alexander, D-Norfolk, an ODU graduate whose district includes the campus, said he doesn't understand why Lavender House is needed.

"If there are incidents of violence, abuse or harassment of students because of their sexual orientation, then we should deal harshly with the perpetrators," he said. "I don't know if creating special housing addresses the problem, if there is a problem.

"It could even have an adverse effect, because you are now singling these students out. In my opinion, it's a form of discrimination."

So far, 18 students have signed up to live in Lavender House this fall. Students who are interested in applying for a room, or would like more information about Lavender House and the Safe Space Committee, can email safespace@odu.edu.

Bill Sizemore, 804-697-1560, bill.sizemore@pilotonline.com