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Students with Special Needs

Housing Accommodations through Student and Employee Accessibility Services

The Office of Residential Life provides housing accommodations for students with disabilities in conjunction with the Student and Accessibility Services (SEAS) office. More information can be found on the Special Housing Accommodations and Process page, on the SEAS website, or by calling (401) 863-9588.

Housing for Students who Identify as Gender Variant or Transgender

First Year Students

Any student who has a gender or gender identity related concern can speak with the Director of Residential Programs about housing option by phone or email. After this conversation, which will include a discussion about type of room, room location, bathroom facilities and roommate matching options, a housing assignment will be made in a first year housing area. During this process a student may opt out of any accommodations offered.

The Director of Residential Programs will be in touch, via email, with any students whose gender recorded on the new student housing questionnaire does not match the legal sex recorded in the University's data collection system. If you would like to initiate this conversation in an alternative way, you have questions about this housing process or if you would like to learn more about your housing options available for students who identify as gender variant or transgender, please contact the Director of Residential Programs at 401-863-3500.

All residential staff receives education and training around gender identity and gender expression.

Upper-class Students

Upper-class students select housing through the Housing Lottery held each spring and students have the option to select gender neutral housing assignments.

All suites and apartments in Young Orchard, Vartan Gregorian Quad, Morriss Hall, Wriston Quad, Barbour Apartments, and the Graduate Center Towers have the option of being gender-neutral housing. In addition, Minden suites (i.e. sets of rooms with independent access to the hallway, not the multi-room triples) are designated as gender- neutral housing optional. Double rooms in Marcy, Goddard, Harkness, Caswell, New Pembroke #1 and New Pembroke #2 have the option of being gender-neutral housing.

These designated suites and double rooms are made available in the Housing Lottery and selected in the exact same manner as all other housing units - a gender- neutral optional housing designation simply means that either a single-gender group or mixed-gender group may select these rooms, suites, or apartments. The selection of gender neutral housing optional units will be by student choice only; no student will be assigned to a gender neutral living situation without his or her express consent.

The following policy and conditions are applicable to students who elect to live in a gender- neutral housing option and reside with a person of a different gender (regardless of sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression). You acknowledge that you understand the terms of the policy and conditions and also agree to be bound by them.

  1. All roommates in gender- neutral housing must be undergraduate students, at least 18 years of age, and eligible for University housing. Incoming first year students are not eligible to participate during their first two semesters.
  2. Applicants must fill the room(s), suite, or apartment being requested to full capacity, i.e., there must be an eligible student applying for every bed in the room(s), suite, or apartment.
  3. Students must apply with their prospective roommate(s) following the same processes and deadlines of all students entering the Housing Lottery.
  4. Issues relating to room reassignments and vacancies will generally follow the procedure set forth in the Residential Life policy "Room Change Requests" this information can be found at the following website: http://reslife.brown.edu/policy/room_change.html), provided however that I understand that instead of consulting with Resident Peer Counselors or Community Directors I can engage directly with a member of the Professional Residential Life staff about roommate difficulties and/or a desire to receive a room reassignment. Please call ext. 3-2635 to establish direct contact and schedule an appointment.
  5. If a roommate cancels their housing or moves out of the room for any reason, the remaining roommates must identify a new roommate to fill the vacancy. The Residential Life Office will define the time allocated to find a new roommate. This window of time will vary depending on time of year and the status of the housing waitlist. Typically, a resident will be allowed a minimum of 24 hours, but not more than one week to identify another eligible roommate. If another roommate(s) is not identified within the time period, Residential Life reserves the right to assign an interested student to the vacancy or to relocate the remaining resident(s) to another vacancy; room type match cannot be guaranteed.
  6. In the absence of extenuating circumstances, I will communicate to my roommate(s) any plans to change rooms or cancel my agreement as soon as I make that decision.
  7. Brown University has established standards of conduct to which all students are held accountable, including conduct standards relating to abusive, threatening, intimidating, or harassing actions (including, but not limited to, those based on race, religion, gender, disability, age, economic status, ethnicity, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression) and sexual misconduct. I understand that resources are available to me in the event that I believe that aspects of my living situation constitute a violation of these standards of conduct. I can access these resources through the Office of Student Life at the following website: http://brown.edu/randr/conduct
  8. Like most Universities, Brown discourages students of any sexual orientation who are in a relationship from living together in a residence hall housing unit, although we do not question the student’s motives for wanting to live in a gender-neutral housing option.
  9. It is my choice if I want to tell my parents or guardian about my decision to live in a gender-neutral housing option. The Office of Residential Life encourages me to talk with my parents or guardian about my housing choice so that they can be in support of my decision.
  10. There is an inherent risk in entering the Housing Lottery in a mixed gender group. Should all rooms, suites, or apartments that have the gender neutral optional designation be selected by the time a mixed gender group's number is called, the group will be unable to select any housing unless it can divide up into single-gender groups and select separate suites or rooms.

Additional Resources

If you are interested in being an ally or living with someone who is transgender or gender variant please refer to the LGBTQ Resource Center ;for additional information.