Students Hope Sousa and Kylie Chartier protest on the Quad advocating gender-neutral bathrooms. Photo by Greg Clark.
A group of students took to the Quad on Nov. 7 and called upon administrators to increase the number of gender-neutral restrooms available in academic buildings and residential halls.
The demonstration was held from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. and featured approximately 20 students. Various University of Rhode Island administrators attended the demonstration and spoke to the students about the school’s intent to install gender-neutral restrooms.
Kylie Chartier, a student who works in the Gender and Sexuality Center, said that the campus lacks an adequate amount of gender-neutral restrooms.
“There are a lot of people on campus who feel uncomfortable using the bathrooms that are around,” Chartier said. “They have to walk way out of their way to do something as simple as a bodily function, and it’s just not right.”
Additionally, Annie Russell, the director of the Gender and Sexuality Center, said that the lack of gender-neutral restrooms has forced some students to go out of their way to find a restroom that they feel comfortable using.
“There are students who plan their schedules around when they’re going to be able to go to the bathroom during the day,” Russell said. “That is ridiculous. That should not be happening.”
Chartier said that several years ago, URI President David Dooley said that gender-neutral restrooms would be added to campus. However, Chartier said the University has not acted quickly enough.
“It’s been promised by President Dooley for a long time that he’s going to change some of the bathrooms on campus, and never followed through, so we need him to take action by the end of the year,” Chartier said.
In 2013, a commission working to establish diversity on campus recommended to Dooley that the University increase the number of gender-neutral restrooms on campus.
As of November 2019, a list on the University’s website showed that there are 20 gender-neutral restrooms on campus. URI has over 50 academic and residential buildings combined on the Kingston campus.
Russell also said that the process of obtaining gender-neutral restrooms on campus has been relatively slow.
However, Russell said the slow process has not been due to a lack of support.
“Folks have been very supportive,” Russel said. “Nobody at the University has been opposed to helping and making this happen. I think it’s been a lot of roadblocks that have been unfortunate and now the students have had enough and I’m glad that they’re taking a stand.”
Russell said that some of the roadblocks the University has faced include having to meet building codes and the need to renovate some restrooms before their gender designation can be changed.
Although the University has tried to overcome the roadblocks, Rusell said she thinks they could have moved quicker at times.
“Unfortunately, I think we could have pushed harder through some of that, but we didn’t, and so here we are and we need to work much harder now,” Russell said.
Abigail Rider, the vice president of the division of administration and finance, said that she thinks the University has moved as quickly as they can.
“I think the intent of the University has always been to move as quickly as possible,” Rider said.
However, Rider said that the process of changing the gender designation of restrooms is not as simple as it may seem. Rider said the University had to gain approval by the state building code officials in order to designate a restroom as gender-neutral.
“I think that it is a reasonable expression of frustration because it has taken a long time to get to the point that we’re at now, which is we’re actively installing signs around campus,” Rider said.
Rider said the University hopes to finish adding more gender-neutral restrooms by the end of the upcoming spring semester.
The demonstration was organized by Feminists at URI, the Sexuality and Gender Alliance and the Gender and Sexuality Center.