ST. BONAVENTURE (March 21) – On the last selection day of their freshman year, St. Bonaventure University juniors Marissa Morill and Cassie Stubbs entered the Reilly Center, thinking they would be choosing their housing.
With no more rooms available, Morill, Stubbs and about 30 other students wrote their desired roommates on a list, said Stubbs.
“We didn’t know where we were living until August – when bills came out,” said Stubbs, a journalism and mass communication major.
That year Morill and Stubbs lived on Falconio Hall’s first floor – on which both men and women lived.
If it would better utilize available space, Bonaventure should implement coed floors, said Morill, an education major.
The Residence Life staff creates coed floors when necessary to ensure all students have a room.
“The decision is made strictly based on the numbers [students needing housing] and the space available,” said Chris Brown, Bonaventure’s coordinator for residential education and housing.
Canisius College of Buffalo, a university Bonaventure competes with for enrollment, implemented coed housing in 1996, creating more flexibility when housing freshmen, said Matthew Mulville, director of Residence Life.
Yearly housing damage fines have decreased, said Mulville.
“Prior to 1996 we averaged about $25,000 in damage fines per year. Now it’s more like $3,000,” Mulville said.
Nichole Gonzalez, Bonaventure’s director of Residence Life, said the first floor of Falconio, the university’s only coed floor, has fewer housing issues than the other single-sex floors, said Gonzalez.
“I don’t want to say there’s less documentation because it’s coed. After all, it is a substance-free [themed living] floor,” Gonzalez said.
Mulville said women’s behavior influences men’s.
The women on coed floors do not tolerate immature behavior. The men, not wanting to look foolish, do not cause housing damage, decreasing yearly fines, said Mulville.
Andy Malpiedi, ’10, agreed.
“All-guy floors can just be obnoxious. If there were girls living on the floors, I think they’d keep it cleaner,” said Malpiedi.
Bonaventure sophomore Jessenia Andujar said all-women floors have too much drama.
“I think guys would mellow things out,” said Andujar, a physical education major.
Bonaventure freshman Carrie Wozniak agreed.
“I think I would’ve made more friends faster because girls tend to be standoffish when it comes to meeting other girls,” said Wozniak, an undeclared major.
Canisius sophomore Abby Formella said she loved living on a coed floor her freshman year.
“This year I am on the only all-girls floor, and I don't like it as much. It's a lot quieter and cleaner, but it's not as fun without the boys,” said Formella.
“The guys on our floor watched out for us girls, and sometimes the girls would bake cookies for the guys! We became like a family,” said Formella, a marketing major.
Formella said she never once felt uncomfortable living with guys.
Stubbs agreed.
“It was so much fun,” said Stubbs. “I was never worried about anything.”
If Bonaventure implemented more coed housing, Brown said bathrooms would never be coed.
“We also will only consider making a floor coed when we can separate the areas and create distinct male and female wings, like in Rob/Fal,” said Brown.
Robinson and Falconio halls have doors separating each of the buildings’ three wings. Each wing has its own bathroom, Brown said.
Gonzalez said students would have the choice to live on a coed floor.
“I would hate to see all floors go coed,” said Gonzalez. “I would want to preserve some [single-sex floors] for first-year students and upperclassmen.”
“I don’t want to say it [coed housing] will never be explored in the future,” said Gonzalez.
“It’s not something that’s just mine or Chris Brown’s decision,” said Gonzalez. “It would need to go through a lot of different channels.”
When Canisius implemented coed floors, Mulville said it received grief from some conservative Jesuits only, none from students or parents.
“When we switched to coed it was uneventful,” said Mulville.
Gonzalez said the idea of coed housing has not been explored at Bonaventure.
“The tradition at the university has been to keep floors single-sex,” Gonzalez said.
Bonaventure sophomore Mike Terry agreed.
“Because we are a Catholic school we are just more conservative. No one has felt strongly enough to push for some sort of change,” said Terry, a political science major.
Morill enjoyed living on a coed floor but disliked one aspect.
“Boys smell,” said Morill.
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