I did my undergrad study at a small private school in Hickory, North Carolina called Lenoir-Rhyne College.  One of the things that I believe made L-RC very unique is the kind of rooming options that were possible.

Freshman had two options:

1. One room with a total of two people connected to another room that also had two people.  These four people shared one bathroom.  This is the option that I choose.
2. One room with a total of two people shared a bathroom with a whole floor of people.  This is what is considered a typical college dormitory.

Upperclass (Sophomores, Juniors, Seniors) had four options:

1. One room with a total of two people shared a bathroom with a whole floor of people.  This is what is considered a typical college dormitory.
2. One room with a total of two people that had their own bathroom to themselves.  This is the option that I choose.
3. One “suite” with a small kitchen, living room, two larger bedrooms (with two people in each room) and a bathroom.  A total of four people lived in the “suite.”
4. One “suite” with a small kitchen living room, four smaller bedrooms (one person in each room) and a bathroom.  A total of four people lived in the “suite.”

With all these different options, the rooms were always officially (I stress OFFICIALLY) all the same gender.

Today I read an interesting article titled “One boy, one girl - one dorm room.”  Basically what the article talks about is how at least two dozen colleges/universities are allowing for coed roommates.  Some of the schools that are doing this are:

• Wesleyan University
• Brown University
• University of Pennsylvania
• Oberlin College
• Clark University
• California Institute of Technology
• Stanford University
• University of California, Riverside

The schools with this type of rooming option don’t put any restrictions on the sexual orientation of any of the roommates or even if roommates are couples (although Brown University doesn’t recommend this type of rooming situation because of the possibility that they could break up during the academic year).

What are your thoughts?  Do you think that is type of rooming option should be available to college coeds?  Do you think that there will be sexual tension between roommates?