The Rice Thresher

Location: http://the.ricethresher.org/news/2006/01/27/jonesvotescoed

January 27, 2006 > News > Jones cabinet votes to make all floors co-ed next year

Jones cabinet votes to make all floors co-ed next year

By Anne Hierholzer | Thresher staff

The boundary between heaven and hell will be breached next year.

Jones College’s two single-sex floors will become co-ed, the Jones Cabinet decided in a 13-1 vote last semester.

Since the former women’s college became co-ed in 1980, Jones’ third floor south — known as “hell” — has been reserved for men only, and fourth floor south — known as “heaven” — has been reserved for women. The Jones cabinet voted on whether or not to keep the two single-sex floors every year until the mid-1990s, when voting stopped because the tradition began to be taken for granted.

But Jones considered changing the floors’ single-sex status last year, primarily because of logistical issues. A college-wide vote in the spring was ineffective because of multiple complications in the voting process, including confusion over whether the vote was binding or a survey and whether a constitutional amendment was necessary. As a result, last fall the cabinet formed a committee to study the matter, junior Leah Witus, who chaired the committee, said.

“We just saw that demand for the single-sex floors was decreasing,” Witus said. “The committee was formed to determine whether this drop in demand was just a blip in the system or a consistent trend.”

Jones President Breck Garrett said he has also observed a change in demand.

“It was a practical issue,” Garrett, a senior, said. “People just weren’t requesting to be on the all-guys floor, although this wasn’t really a problem for the all-girls floor.”

The committee studied Jones’ history and surveyed the entire college. Garrett said the survey indicated that many students thought the switch would improve the college.

“Some people talked about the idea that the change would lead to more unity — that co-ed floors would heal any divisions that might have occurred,” Garrett said.

The committee voted 5-1 to recommend that cabinet make the floors co-ed. The cabinet then approved the motion.

Some students have reservations about the switch. Jones junior Alison Morgan said she was opposed to making fourth floor south co-ed, because she thinks it may lose its reputation as a clean and quiet place to live.

“I have enjoyed the environment of living on this floor because I am more comfortable living in close quarters with members of the same sex,” Morgan said. “I don’t mind guys visiting the floor, but at the end of the day, I prefer walking around in pajamas — or going to the shower in a towel in a hallway filled with girls, where bumping into a male visitor is occasional rather than a near certainty.”

Witus said many students were pleased with the change because they believe it will give them more flexibility.

“Some people who didn’t want to live on single-sex floors got stuck there,” Witus said. “Then, they sometimes began to feel isolated and like they weren’t meeting many new people.”

End of article

Back to top