UNC Board of Governors members voted unanimously to cancel a policy allowing men and women to live together on the Chapel Hill campus. The vote nullified the UNC Chapel Hill trustee board's endorsement of gender neutral housing.
Some male and female students were going to live together in 32 living spaces set aside in two dorms starting this month. But the board of governors said that arrangement would be inappropriate. Chairman Peter Hans says their consideration of the policy included the unfavorable opinions of some state lawmakers.
"Members of the House and Senate made it clear they were going to pass a state law to this effect," Hans says. "I think our board also felt that it was important to maintain our autonomy over housing policy."
LGBT groups who supported gender-neutral housing say living with members of the opposite sex often frees them from ridicule. The Board of Governors' decision bans men and women living together on all 17 system campuses unless they are siblings or married.
