Whereas, Cornell offers communities based on identities, values, or lifestyle preferences,
Whereas, women's spaces do not strictly regulate who is on the floor or in the space as any keycard for that building can be used to access them. Within women's only floors, individuals from other floors often use the bathrooms and study spaces due to this, and within Balch men occasionally walk around unaccompanied,
Whereas, guests and residents have the liberty to invite anyone onto the floor and into these communities, including those who do not share the identity, values, or expectations of these spaces,
Whereas, this can create a situation where individuals within these communities feel uncomfortable. In the case of women's only floors, men can access the facilities at any hour of the day, making them no longer a meaningfully single-gender or regulated environment,
Whereas, women who select to live in these spaces for personal reasons should be able to have a secure, women’s only living space. This can provide security to those who are anxious to live in mixed gender spaces or those who have survived sexual assault in addition to those seeking to live in a more regulated single gender space due to religious values,
Whereas, anxiety around mixed-gender residential environments, religious values, and wanting to live in a more regulated space is not limited to women. Men may have personal, religious, or safety-related reasons too,
Whereas, women’s and men’s only spaces with a resident specific keycard access and a strict and limited visitation policy carried out by an RA would create a sense of security for residents in a way that many existing structures and residential halls are not set up to provide,
Whereas, students could apply to this more controlled housing, advertised as single gender with strict keycard access and visitation hours, through the housing portal. Students would not need to disclose their reason for doing so, but they could select a box that they would benefit from a more controlled residential environment on the portal. Additionally, students who are receiving housing-related supportive measures through Title IX or another University support system could also relocate to secure housing for an additional sense of security,
Be it therefore resolved, that HRL pilot a secure housing program where, in order to access the floor, the individual must have a specific keycard. If a member of the community wants to bring a visitor, the resident must register the visitor with the community's RA or RA on call during visitation hours,
Be it further resolved, that this program be implemented within an existing space with secure entrances and exits,
Be it finally resolved, that individuals can elect to live in this space, or be transferred to it, under HRL and Title IX procedures,
Respectfully Submitted,
Ellie Porter
Representative at Large, Student Assembly
