Catholic University getting rid of coed dorms

Catholic University is getting rid of its coed dorms. Seems the administration thinks this will “curtail the binge drinking and casual hookups of students.” But based on the restrictions Catholic already had—segregating men and women in coed dorms to separate floors or wings and enforcing “visiting hours”—I don’t really understand why they think separating men and women into entirely different buildings will make a difference.

The Washington Post reports:

“We just thought it was a more wholesome environment,” said John H. Garvey, who became president of Catholic last year. “A little separation is a healthy thing.”

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The coed vs. single-sex debate harkens back at least a generation, and today most colleges house female and male students under the same roof. Some schools even allow those students to be roommates. George Washington University is one of the latest campuses to offer “gender-neutral housing,” which allows students to live with anyone they choose.

But that’s not an option all students want, said Erwin Villanueva, a rising junior at Catholic.

“It was a big relief to my Mom” that Catholic offered single-sex housing, Villanueva said. “I guess she’s just old-fashioned. She’s more comfortable with this.”

Uh, call me cosmopolitan, but there’s something nice about being treated as an adult when you move away to college. I understand that my frame of reference is different. UCLA is a big public university. But kids have to grow up eventually—and if they don’t figure it out in college, they will when they graduate. I’m pretty sure all apartment buildings are coed.