A typical conversation among freshman includes names, hometowns, majors, and the all important "where do you live on campus?"
For most, living in the "AMRs" is considered cool. It means that you want to be in the "social" dorms and that you are willing to rough it, to share the bathroom with several others, to sleep in a room meant for one and to accept the fact that air conditioning is only a memory. Freshman living in Wolman and McCoy consider themselves removed from the rest of their class.
Although students in Wolman and McCoy are not ridiculed for isolating themselves, freshman in Hollander, Royce and the Hopkins Inn face abuse.
Many people assume that students living in these single-sex dorms chose to do so, and as a result, unfairly stereotype such residents. Is it fair to have housing define who you are as a person?
I decided to see for myself what a "single sex housing kid" was all about. Were people going to shun away and hide in the corner? When I walk into Hollander, are people going to start hyperventilating at the sight of a woman?
I boldly ventured to the freshman quad and climbed the steps to Hollander. Believe it or not, Hollander is only a stairwell away from coed housing. When I entered I spotted two guys, they didn't seem to be affected by the fact that I was female. Pleasantly surprised by their outgoing attitudes, I found the confidence to ask them why they chose to live in the all-male dormitory.
Freshman Brian Clarke explains that he actually was in the coed style living, but preferred having a single. The only single available for him was in Hollander. He said that if he wants to see girls he can go right down the hall.
"The girls are close enough," added freshman Chris Francke. "The real problem is the reputation." Many seem to assume that those in Hollander prance around naked and have an aversion to the other gender. In fact, most of the people who live in single sex housing did not even choose to live there. If even one or two people request to live there, the school must designate single sex housing for males and females.
Chosen at random, the majority of the males did not find out the single sex discovery until the first day of school. When Hollander had its first meeting, RA Ankush Meta instructed everyone to look around the room. He asked if anyone noticed anything strange. The response was unanimous, "no chicks." This highly disturbing news came as a shock to most.
Many of the guys say that it is fine and there are some advantages. Ironically one is the fact that they happen to be "all-male". According to Vishnu Reddy, the occasional female will wander down the hall wanting to check out the inhabitants of this mysterious all male dorm.
Freshman Sunny Sahajwani claims that it helped him to make friends because all the guys had something in common -- they all liked to complain about the dorm. Overall he said that the only real disadvantage besides "not seeing girls walk around in towels" is the bad reputation of a "Hollander guy." He confirmed that the Hollander guys "do not jack off fourteen times a day."
Many of the guys say that their hall is quieter and that other residents tend to be more laid back. Many feel that it is nice not to have to impress anyone or watch other guys acting like jerks to attract women. The floor feels much more like a relaxed "hangout" in which guys can chill and they know where to find the girls.
The guys, however, do not necessarily want to live there, but now that they are stuck, they find that it isn't so bad. A few guys, however, did mention they want to find the kids that requested single-sex housing. Many of the Hollander guys feel that the few who requested all-male housing should be on a floor of their own and those who do not want it should not have to be forced to live there.
The bottom line is that the Hollander residents do not want to be known as weird for living there. Most of them did not even choose to live there, and they are quite adamant about liking girls.
The females had a different perspective. Many of them, like the guys, did not request single sex housing, but found that once they were here they enjoyed their living situation. A lot of girls have found a great group of girlfriends already just by living together. They do not seem to complain as much about being embarrassed to say that they live in Royce or the Hopkins Inn. Some get the occasional comment, "Oh you are living there" but it is not prefaced with the "she must be gay" that many of the guys experience.
The women enjoy being with other females and not having to worry about impressing the guy down the hall. They find that they enjoy their privacy and act much more casual around each other. Many of the girls also feel there is less competition between them because they are not going for the same guy or trying to outdo one another.
The "single sex kids" are not any different than the rest of us. Most of them were forced to live in their dorms or at least claimed to be forced; it is possible that some lied as to retain a level of coolness. I found that to fit into the single-sex community you need to make sure to say something along the lines of, "yeah I was pissed I was put here, I definitely did not want this, but hey it is not that bad." Anything else will clearly ostracize you from the group.
For all the coed dwellers, do not be intimidated by the single-sex species. They are nice, fun people.
