The Office of Fraternity & Sorority Affairs in
partnership with The Pride Center for Sexual Orientation and Gender Diversity
and the Office of Residential services is excited to share that 27 single-stall
restrooms will be converted to gender-inclusive restrooms across 16 chapter
facilities. This project began in April
2016 when Residential Services graciously offered to invest in our Greek
facilities over the summer to make this change for any chapter that opted in. This followed a campus-wide
shift that took place in 2015-2016 to convert any single-stall restrooms in
academic buildings to be gender-inclusive.
The terms "gender-neutral" and "gender-inclusive"
are used interchangeably by Lehigh to refer to accommodations that welcome all
people regardless of gender identity and expression. The project gives our
chapters the opportunity to align with this inclusive practice along with the
rest of the institution.
Chelsea Fullerton, Director of the Pride Center, spoke at
council meetings in the spring 2016 semester to explain the project and address
any questions. Over the summer, chapters
that decided to participate worked with Brooke Hubbard, OFSA summer intern, to
coordinate the logistics of conversions within their facility. The Office of Residential Services will manage
the restroom conversions, most of which will be completed before the houses
open. A handful of conversions will
continue over the month of September.
When asked why their chapter decided to participate, Scott
Henry, President of Sigma Phi Epsilon, wrote “When we heard of the opportunity
to convert our bathrooms to gender inclusive, it was really a no brainer. It
makes life much easier and convenient for everyone. Now, no brother or guest
will feel uncomfortable when using SigEp's facilities. We think it's a great
opportunity to support Lehigh's initiative of creating an inclusive community.” President of Gamma Phi Beta, Juliana DeMaria
said “My chapter and I felt that gender inclusive restrooms were a great way to
create a safer home for our members and guests.” Christian Dietz, President of Phi Delta
Theta, echoed DeMaria’s thoughts expressing “We want anyone visiting our house
to feel welcome.”
As a Greek community, we are thrilled to support this
initiative and create welcoming spaces in our facilities!