Gender-neutral housing coming to GW

GW announced late Thursday afternoon that gender-neutral housing will be offered for the 2011-2012 academic year. The Equal Housing Opportunity Act (EHOA), a proposal presented by current senior Michael Komo to the GW Student Association Senate last January, was the catalyst for the decision. After the SA voted to approve the motion last year, it was sent on to the GW administration for consideration. Their decision yesterday came after months of debate by students and administration staff alike.

The new program will allow all students to live with one another, regardless of gender or sexual orientation. Begininning this fall, all GW students, including freshmen, will be able to opt-in. Students will not be randomly assigned in to the program to live with students of different genders; all students who wish to live in opposite-sex housing must specifically request to live with students they know.

Logan Dobson Running for EVP

Current CCAS undergraduate SA Senator Logan Dobson is running for SA executive vice president according to a blog post on Inside the SA.

Dobson will likely face fellow CCAS Senator Josh Goldstein in a competitive election.

As for the latest election rumors this morning, Michael Komo is unlikely to run for either SA president or EVP, although nothing is out of question at this point. If Komo decides not to run, Lifton will be a virtual shoo-in due to his high name recognition, unless challenged by another high profile SA insider.

WRGWnews.com will be comprehensively covering this month's election, so stay tuned.

BREAKING: SA Senate Passes LGBT Bills

SA Senator and potential Presidential Candidate Michael Komo received two pieces of good news Tuesday night, as the Senate voted to pass the two LGBT bills he had been championing.

The Senate first passed the 2010 Expanding Academic Opportunities Act, which endorses the creation of an LGBT Studies Minor within CCAS, by a roll-call vote of 23-7.

The Senate later passed the 2010 Equal Housing Opportunity Act, which endorses gender-neutral housing, allowing students to apply for housing with students of the opposite gender if they request one another, by a roll-call vote of 19-11.  The bill had been tabled at last week's meeting.

"I am absolutely elated!  We have been working for months on these initiatives," said Komo after final passage of both bills.  "Our hard was rewarded tonight with the passage of both pieces of legislation. I am beyond happy that we have addressed the concerns of students and have offered positive solutions. The point of the Student Association is to help students in need. We have successfully done that this evening. I am very proud. I look forward to addressing more concerns of the student body at future Senate meetings."

Komo had added an amendment to EHOA during a recess to change the endorsement to a less "widespread" version of gender-neutral housing consisting of a one-year pilot program, with the university deciding at the end of the year whether to keep the program.

Senator Erik Ashida told WRGW News before the meeting that he will be retiring from the SA at the end of the year.  During the thirty-minute debate session before the vote, Ashida said that "the concept [of gender-neutral housing] itself is fundamentally sound," calling it "a sound policy we should endorse."

But Senator Giovanni Tomassi, who voiced opposition to both bills, said EHOA was "too broad" and "has too many flaws."

One of the lighter moments of the debate came when Senator Logan Dobson, talking about the potential costs of instituting campus-wide gender-neutral housing, said that "as a member of housing staff I don't charge by the roommate conflict," eliciting applause from some of his fellow Senators.

Click here to read the liveblog of the meeting.

Allied In Pride President Michael Komo Responds to the Meghan McCain Controversy

It was supposed to have been a Meghan McCain speaking event sponsored by Allied In Pride, College Republicans and the Graduate School of Political Management.  However, controversy was ignited this week as the GW College Republicans have accused Allied In Pride President Michael Komo of misleading them by not mentioning McCain would be speaking in favor of gay marriage.

This ignited a firestorm in which McCain posted on her twitter page that she had been "uninvited" by GW. However, only the CR's pulled their sponsorship of the event, and it is still scheduled for February 9th.

The following is a press release Michael Komo sent WRGW News, who wanted a chance to clarify his version of the events:

This past week the facts about the preparation for the upcoming Meghan McCain event at The George Washington University have been misrepresented.

Three GW organizations, Allied in Pride, The Graduate School of Political Management Student Association, and Program Board, have been planning Ms. McCain's appearance since summer 2009.  All three organizations are non-partisan and are elated for the opportunity to have Ms. McCain speak at GW.

The BUZZ: January 20, 2010 - SA EDITION

A couple of important SA news bits:

-WRGW News is conducting a poll that surveys people on their attitudes towards the Student Association and polls hypothetical SA presidential horse races.  So far in the small portion of surveys we've looked at, there are definitely some surprises and trends appearing. Be on the lookout for the polls later this weekend or early next week.

-The SA Senate decided to table the gender neutral housing bill, effectively holding it off until it is reintroduced.  However, the body will meet again next Tuesday to vote on the LGBT minor bill (and most likely the gender neutral housing bill too).  Be sure to check out the liveblog.

-One of the controversies surrounding the gender neutral housing bill was Michael Komo's speech to the RHA general assembly on Monday. One member of the RHA general assembly who spoke during the public comments session of the meeting, freshman Ted Dooley stated that Komo had misled him and the body in the Monday meeting.  I emailed RHA President Jess Yager about this and she responded,

I do not believe that Michael Komo misled RHA in any way. He was present at the meeting because of his knowledge of gender neutral housing gained from researching and preparing for the Senate bill. Michael gave a brief introduction of the topic and then took a seat with the General Body members. The floor was opened for questions and opinions which were addressed by RHA Executive Board members. Michael was fair in his statements and his dealings with RHA.

This may have been a large factor in the vocal opposition to the bill that led to its tabling.  Regardless, it looks like Komo has a lot of work to do to salvage the bills next week.

-Among the visibly upset that the SA decided to vote to table the bill (rather than give it a 'yes' or 'no' vote) were EVP Jason Lifton, and senators Erik Ashida and Michael Komo.  Instead of actually voting on bills this year, the SA has managed to "table" a good number of them, effectively waffling on many important issues that come before them.  One senator said something along the lines of "we have taxis to take and metro rides to make back home" as the meeting reached 11p.m. (after starting at 9 p.m.).  This is a shameful excuse to table bills and create additional meetings, and it's disturbing it has become a popular trend in the Senate.

-At the meeting, several people spoke about the gender neutral housing bill during public comments, with a majority in favor of it.

DEVELOPING: SA Student Life Committee Passes Key LGBT Legislation

On Tuesday night, the Student Association Senate Committee on Student Life, led by Chairman Michael Komo, voted in favor of two LGBT-related bills: the first, the 2010 Equal Housing Opportunity Act (EHOA), allows students to apply for gender-neutral housing, and the second, the 2010 Expanding Academic Opportunities Act (EAOA), calls for the creation of an LGBT Studies Minor in the Columbian College of Arts and Sciences.

Both bills were passed 7-1.

“I am absolutely elated that the Student Life Committee has passed both pieces of legislation,” said Komo, who is also the President of Allied in Pride, after the vote.  “Various student groups and organizations at GW have been working vigorously on these initiatives all year.  I think the enthusiasm from the student body has carried over to the Student Life Committee.”

The two bills will now go before the full Senate, where they will be voted on this coming Tuesday at 9pm in Marvin Center room 405.

Asked if he thinks the bills will pass the Senate, Komo said he is “anticipating a positive reaction from the Senate as a whole.”

“The Senate has been receiving updates on these initiatives since the beginning of last fall and has been receptive to the ideas,” he said.  “I am optimistic that the Senate will vote in favor of equality and will pass these two pieces of legislation next Tuesday.”

SA Senator Komo Pushes for Gender-Neutral Housing

Michael Komo, President of Allied and Pride and Undergraduate-At-Large Senator in the GW Student Association, is on a mission to bring gender-neutral housing to GW through his new organization, Colonials for Gender-Neutral Housing. “We have two problems with housing,” said Komo, who is Chairman of the SA Senate Student Life Committee, when asked why he supports gender-neutral housing for GW. “First, transgender students do not have proper housing. There are only ‘male’ and ‘female’ boxes on the housing application, and transgender students are not recognized or placed properly in housing. Second, several students would feel more comfortable living with the opposite sex. Our current housing program does not address the needs of students who are not comfortable living with members of the same sex. [Gender-neutral housing] would alleviate those problems and would make our housing as close to perfection as possible.” With gender-neutral housing, male and female students would be able to request living with one another, though Komo said it “would never be random.” “Gender-neutral housing would be a completely voluntary program that would be another option in housing,” said Komo. “Men would not be able to randomly request to live with women. The same is for women. Students would have to specifically request to live with one another. They would be mixed in with the rest of the students on campus. For example, Ivory 201 would be men, Ivory 202 would be women, Ivory 203 would be gender-neutral.”


Komo’s Living and Learning Cohort, “Escaping Gender,” is a test-run for gender-neutral housing on the GW campus; now in its second year, the LLC includes men, women, and transgendered students participating in gender-neutral housing. Komo says the LLC “has been extremely successful. Now, we want to implement gender-neutral housing on a larger basis.” The LLC will be publishing a “comprehensive report detailing what colleges participate in this program and how they did it,” said Komo. “It will also include why GW needs it, and a plan to implement it.” This report is set to be published the week of January 10. The SA is expected to vote on the gender-neutral housing bill the following week.