Diversity in Campus Housing?

Question

I thought this would be a fresh topic for CC. Should colleges assign roommates to increase diversity*, or should they let students pick their own roommates? I never lived in campus housing, so I’m interested to hear how personal experience with it informs your views. The whole article is worth at least skimming, but this is the heart of the matter.

*While race is certainly a part of the conversation, also look at other forms of diversity as well. According to the article some HBCU’s are also currently favoring assigning students. They’re fInally trusting us with topics covering race again, so please keep in mind Admins policy of debating ideas not people.

Answer

I think it should be optional for students. I think it’s great to diversify student housing, but you shouldn’t force it. I think if someone is getting a random roommate it needs to be more complicated than “are you a morning or night person” and “what type of music do you listen too”. I think we need to put compatible people together. I think just mashing a bunch of people together can make it bad. I’ve seen roommates that were so different end up like shit. Like they should have never lived together. 
I see the benefits, but I don’t believe in forcing something like this. College is stressful enough. Having a bad living situation can make it even worse.

Answer

I don’t think we should make students live with people they’re are uncomfortable living with in the name of diversity.

Answer

I don't agree with forcing people to live together in a tiny little room for 8 months. University is stressful and having a crapping living situation makes it so much worse. Students should be allowed to pick their roommate if they choose. People often have friends that they want to live too and if that's going to make it easier for them to transition to living in a dorm and university that's the best option. 
I personally always had my own dorm room because I've got OCD and living with someone in such tight quarters is very stressful for me (and anyone who'd end up living with me). But, I did live with someone in an apartment style residnece. Originally I was supposed to live with three other girls. The school put me, a student in vet school, in an apartment with three first year undergrads in the fine arts. They loved partying, stayed up late and weren't very clean according to their profiles. Now I remember being a first year undergrad and yeah I loved having fun. Those girls had every right to have fun. But, it was bad for me because I needed to study and while I enjoyed a good party, I go out maybe once every few  months due to having such a massive school work load. They'd have hated having me constantly being upset with them about not cleaning, being loud, etc. And I'd have hated them too. Thankfully, I called the school and they let me switch to graduate housing which initially they wouldn't allow due to my young age. My roommate there I picked (she was a year ahead of me in vet school, quiet, clean and studied lots) and we got along great! Yes she was my race and probably a similar social class, but I didn't pick her for those reasons at all. I didn't even know those things about her until I moved in. 
I had a friend in undergrad that was placed with a girl from China. They liked each other, but had a lot of cultural differences that made living together hard. They stayed friends and have been friends for the last 6 years, but they moved into individual rooms after four months. They just weren't happy living together due to differences in how they were used to living. It wasn't about race, just that their cultural differences didn't work well in a tiny little dorm room. 
Diversity is great but you need to be able to live together and sometimes cultural, social, personal, or whatever differences just don't work in a tiny little room where there's hardly room to walk.

Answer

Putting two random people in living quarters together to “diversify” them is a disaster waiting to happen. You cannot force people to get along with other people different from them, so I could only see this ending badly for some

Answer

I think if you want to pick you should be able to, but the default is to assign. For diversity, but also just so kids can be forced outside of their comfort zones generally.
My college roommate was assigned to me and is still one of my dear friends today. We are totally different and from different worlds so I never would have picked her outright, and I’m so glad we were matched!

Answer

Okay so speaking from real experience. I had a roommate from Dubai. She was a random that I found on the private campus internet. And she said she was clean and quiet. She was not. She literally made my life a living hell. She had no boundaries. She would eat stuff out of my fridge and then tell me to pay for more when I ran out. She was also filthy rich (and filthy). She never washed clothes she would just buy more with daddy’s credit card. So there was a growing pile of stinking clothes on her bed. By the end of the semester she couldn’t even sleep there. Our room perpetually smelled like Indian food because she didn’t refrigerate anything or wash any dishes. She said she didn’t know how because that was servant work🙄🙄🙄. She was disgusting. AND ON TOP OF ALL THAT SHE STAYED ON DUBAI TIME! So she went to bed at 6AM, and stayed up all night on her laptop making noise. It was a lot of cultural differences tbh.
Honestly, just no to roommates. I’m finally living on my own and it’s a breath of fresh air.

Answer

I’m also going to add my SO’s experience. He lived in an all Asian suite. So 2 guys were ABC (American born Chinese), 2 guys were Chinese and didn’t even speak English, and his roommate was also ABC. Anyway the two Chinese guys were awful their room smelled so bad that when they opened the door you could smell the stench down the hall. It was just body odor 🤢. They also refused to speak to us. We were always very friendly. When the second Chinese guy moved in my SO asked his name and the guy literally looked at him, rolled his eyes, and then went back into his room and shut the door. We never even learned what his name was. But to his Chinese roommate all they did was talk and joke. It was really disheartening, but that’s how a lot of the Chinese international students act. They are so rude to other student, especially those who are ABC. It really leave a bad impression. 
So no forcing someone to live with someone like that would not be okay.

Answer

When I went to college they gave you both options. I believe in the application they even mentioned how they recommend letting them choose so you can meet new people. I think it’s fine like that. You’re introduced to and encounter lots of other people in other ways.

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I think picking roommates is preferable. I know it sounds bad that it’s sort of segregated but living in a dorm is a big transition for a lot of people and I don’t think it’s wrong to want to live with someone they feel comfortable with even if it is subconsciously prejudice. I have been in and out of foster care for years. I’ve lived with people of all races. I’m used to living in diversity but I have witnessed other kids being nervous about such unfamiliar circumstances and culture. Let them pick roommates but make the halls diverse and encourage comradely between everyone in the hallway

Answer

Hmmm I feel like campuses should continue to let students pick their roommates. It’s too easy to get a random roommate that you end up really disliking. Since you’re paying for all of it, I think you should at least get a say in who you’re living with lol. 
Also, I think people just like to stick to what’s familiar. I wouldn’t say it’s intentional if your friend group isn’t diverse, but people like to be able to relate to their friends. I’ve always seen this as long as I’ve been in school.

Diversity in Campus Housing?

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