The upstairs boys’ bathroom in Hooper was recently converted to a single-user, gender-neutral restroom. According to executive director Dr. Germain McConnell, “This change was supposed to be implemented over the summer for all academic buildings, but Hooper was left out.”

All bathrooms in the Performing Arts Center and Shackelford are now gender neutral; however, these bathrooms presented a different case than the one in Hooper. Bathrooms in the former buildings were already single user whereas the recently converted Hooper restroom was a multi-user restroom.

Most students are fairly ambivalent about the change. One student said “I have no opinion,” while another even asked “We have bathrooms upstairs?”

McConnell stated that the change was made because “Some students may prefer to use a single user restroom, so we wanted to provide that option in all academic buildings.”

In addition, the switch to a gender neutral restroom follows a larger national trend towards making transgender and gender nonconforming students more comfortable with their restroom options.

However, one student (who wished to remain anonymous) questioned the need to make it single user. “I don’t see why it has to be a single occupancy restroom. Why can’t it just be gender neutral?” they said.

Overall, it’s a safe assumption to make that most students have no major opinion on this issue. In the words of senior Dustin Dunaway, “I’m sure it’s useful to someone.”