Walker Avenue Adds Gender-Neutral Housing; Still Discriminates Against Married Students

The folks over at UMBC Underground have confirmed that Walker Avenue Apartments will indeed be designating some of their existing spaces as gender-neutral. While this seems to be a good step toward accommodating many of UMBC's students, it frustrates me that both Walker and UMBC as an institution discriminate against married students.

Residential Life has neither gender-neutral nor married student housing, forcing students who have these needs to look for housing elsewhere in the community. However, when students move off campus (I mean actually off campus, not Walker) they are denied the portion of their scholarship funds that normally covers housing. This places these students in a frustrating catch-22, where they are essentially punished for their nonstandard needs.

While I have heard that Walker Avenue has allowed married students to share one of the singles, there are only two of them in the whole complex. On top of that, if your spouse is not a full-time UMBC student as well, you're out of luck. I understand the complications involved with trying to provide these kinds of specialized housing options - so why not allow students who fit these conditions to use their scholarship money to find a suitable place to live?

As Walker undertakes this "pilot program," I urge them to consider married students as well. Hopefully Walker Avenue Apartments can stand as an example to the rest of the university on how students of many different needs can be welcomed onto our campus.