By Michelle Karparis | Associate Editor
Over the summer, while most of us were still knee deep in sand and sunscreen, a groundbreaking change was introduced to our campus. As of this semester, gender inclusive bathroom signs can now be seen all over Salve Regina University.
“Any single stall bathroom on this campus is now an inclusive bathroom,” explains Morgan Rayner, Area Coordinator and Salve alumnus. Rayner and three other senior social work majors got the ball rolling on this initiative with a “social action project” they completed in their International Social Work class two years ago.
It was when Rayner and her classmates learned that “some students were traveling all the way to the library to find a bathroom that they felt comfortable using” that she and her classmates realized this was a change that they could make on campus for the betterment of their peers.
Bathrooms in the library, besides the ones in the basement, were previously already not labeled as gender specific; however, now every bathroom on every floor in McKillop boasts the new signs in support of gender inclusivity.
Rayner said that she is thankful to the administration and to the students involved that she is able to come back as an alumnus and see that “we as an institution of mercy have been able to create an environment that is more comfortable and inclusive for all members.”
The gender inclusive bathroom initiative was initially pitched to be a new feature specifically in the O’Hare Academic Center renovation. Being implemented campus-wide, the plan has gone above and beyond what Rayner expected, and not without a lot of effort and support from other resources on campus.
Many different organizations were involved in supporting the initiative to make Salve’s campus more inclusive. Rayner said that letters of support were collected from the Director of Student Affairs, the Dean of Students, and SGA, as well as several student testimonials, when the plan was first pitched to administration.
Patricia Socarras, a senior Sociology, Anthropology, and Philosophy major, was an SGA senator when the plan was first presented, and oversaw it being passed during her SGA presidency last year. Socarras explained that proposals were submitted to Sister Jane and the Vice President of student affairs each year since the initiative was introduced until it was finally passed. Once it was finally put into effect, Malcolm Smith and Dr. Barbara Lomonaco worked with facilities to have signs put up this summer.
In the time it took for this plan to become a reality, views and awareness around campus seem to have shifted greatly. Just last year, Rebecca Forsythe, a senior Sociology and Anthropology major, conducted a study in regards to Salve’s readiness for gender inclusive bathrooms. “It was hard to find people to be interviewed,” she explained, because it was and still is such a “sensitive topic.”
Despite the fact that Forsythe’s study found 65% of the people she surveyed last year were “neutral, uncomfortable, or very uncomfortable” with the idea of gender neutral bathrooms being introduced on campus, she shared her observation that the new bathroom signs seem to have “just slipped” into being a norm at Salve with no real “backlash.”
Socarras adds that the change is still being reviewed and felt out. “Some people are really for it and others see it as a pointless act by administration,” she explained. “Other students don’t understand the circumstance all together.”
Since the implementation of inclusive bathrooms on campus is still so new, it’s hard to tell what kind of impact it will have. In the meantime, Socarras says the initiative is “meant to help all students feel safe, included, and thought of” and “it is symbolic of a motion towards better integration of diverse populations at Salve.”
