OU introduces coed floor for freshmen

OU introduces coed floor for freshmen
CASSI TONEY

The University of Oklahoma’s first freshmen coed floor this year will determine expansion of coed floors in the residence halls.

Fifty freshmen live on a coed floor in Walker Tower with separate suites for male and female students to test the success of the pilot program while 400 students are on a waiting list.

Amy Buchanan, housing and food assistant director in community experience, said different student groups, such as the Housing Center Student Association submitted proposals to President Boren and met with him this summer to decide to offer a pilot coed floor option for the 4,300 freshmen living on campus.

“Offering coed freshmen floors involved a lot more people than housing and food because President Boren made the ultimate decision to give the option of coed housing,” Buchanan said. “The decision came from higher up than us, but we were obviously very supportive of the president’s decision.”

Buchanan said OU’s housing and food services wants to offer the best options for students. She said there are not yet plans for the future of coed halls because the program started one month ago, but President Boren will make the ultimate decision.

Students spend time together in a dorm room on a coed floor in Adams Tower, Thursday Sept. 27, 2012. Each suite of two rooms with a shared bathroom has only one gender on the coed floors

“Our staff is always available for any issues the students bring to us, so we can provide housing options that make students feel more comfortable and safer in the environment,” Buchanan said.

Bracken Marburger, aviation management freshman, said OU should continue to offer coed floors because of the long waiting list and good community experience.

“I thought living on the coed floor would be cool,” Marburger said. “It’s not that big of deal to live next door to a girl. It’s real world stuff, just like you would be living next to girls on your street or in an apartment complex.”

Meghan Gallagher and Justin Dutchover talk on a coed floor in the Adams Tower on Thursday, Sept. 27, 2012. Male student suites and female student suites are located next door and across the hall from each other.

 Marburger said he liked everything about living on the coed floor.

“It’s pretty chill and easygoing,” Marburger said. “I like that there are no visiting hours. In high school, everything is so structured and strict, and I think college should be more lenient.”

Buchanan said all the staff in housing and food wants the students to connect with someone in their community.

Residents on the coed floor talk, relax and study in the social lounge in Adams Tower, Thursday, Sept. 27, 2012. The residents share a study room in addition to a large social lounge area.

“The community on the freshmen floor seems to be very close,” said Buchanan. “They’ll all be hanging out in the social lounge and people have their doors open. It seems they are connecting and getting a positive experience for everyone of the floor”

The university introduced the option for upperclassmen coed floors in fall 2010. Fifty upperclassmen students live on the coed floors in the Johnson wing of Adams Tower, according to Buchanan.

According to the Journal of American College Health, 90 percent of American college dorms are coed.