TCU Cancels Plans for Gay-Themed Housing

Texas Christian University has canceled its plans to build more themed housing, which included housing for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender students and their supporters, the Dallas Morning News reports.

The decision was made just a week after news of the gay-themed housing went national, courtesy of debates that raged on blogs and media sites. However, Chancellor Victor Boschini Jr. insists the decision was made not because of the controversy over the gay-themed dorm community but over worries that "living learning" communities overall could create separatism on campus.

"The biggest complaint we got from people was not about any single group but about having these groups in general," said Boschini. "Their theory was, it's splitting students up instead of uniting them." The plan included eight apartment blocks with themes that included patriotism, Christianity, and marine biology.

TCU already has five themed housing units—honors, leadership, environmental issues, health and wellness, and language and international issues—and is hardly leading the way. Texas A&M, Georgetown, the University of Minnesota, and the University of Colorado-Boulder are among the many schools with separate housing options.

Critics of TCU's decision say that students chose the themes themselves and that there has not been any student outcry against the living learning communities. "I had not heard much, if any, complaint from the majority of the student body," said one student. "So whoever it was that changed TCU's mind must be more important than its students."