To think that universities in 2019 should be required to...

[SurfScoter]

Allow mixed-gender rooms in halls?
I have lots of opposite-gender friends. I was talking with a friend in a similar situation and he was saying that he was not allowed to room with a female friend, even though both their sets of parents were OK with it, because it is against university policy.
AIBU to think that, in this day and age with so many people being more open about sexuality, universities should relax their gender policies? Especially considering the fact that the majority of uni students are already adults when they start.

Op isn’t talking about halls but rather shared rooms which is a thing in the US.

I suppose universities could offer it as a choice but I cannot see how many people would want it. Generally you would only want to share with a member of the opposite sex who you already knew and then you ham a possible issue of uneven numbers left of others who don’t want to share with opposite sex.

If you are in a couple then apply for couples accommodation

Totally different system in the US

AND NO

I don't think a girl who might be under 18 as people do start at 17 over there sometimes should be asked or expected to share a "dorm" either with a teenage boy or with a man

Surely US would call them "dorms" and "college"...

Even 25 years ago there were no shared rooms in my university's halls. The lucky students got former "double rooms" to themselves- they were huge.
By the time I graduated, the majority of halls were en-suite too, so no bathroom sharing issues.

I shared a room in first year in the U.K. (very old building, huge rooms). But older students all had singles. Obviously first years can’t be put with an opposite sex stranger.

Rooms are usually single in the U.K. only a few places have shared rooms and here you can elect to share with a friend of the opposite sex if you want but if you are matched with a stranger they put you with the same sex

In Australia my daughter is in high rise student accommodation that is a flat of up to 6 people but they all have their own locked room and en-suite. You can chose to be in a mixed gender or single sex flat.

Most people are matched with a stranger aren't they? In the US I mean. To encourage mixing and all that. So no, I wouldn't want to turn up and share with a random 18 year old man!

Even in house share/lodger situations as adults people generally share living space but have their own bedroom.

I find it quite odd that even in expensively-endowed US universities, it's normal for first years share rooms. My American friends all have a fund of stories about having to stay out because their roommate was having a night of passion, or feigning sleep while their roommate was swinging from the ceiling, and signals left hanging on your door to tell someone not to come in. It all sounded terribly -- public.

The shared rooms at my uni were the old, low rent option and those halls had single sex floors as there were shared bathrooms. One of my best friends shared through choice all 3 years, in halls 1 year and then private accommodation for 2 years. She loved it but said you had to be really comfortable in who you lived with.

Overall, mixed is not an option these days because: lots of people still don't want it for a variety of reasons- religion, modesty, safety, just preferring to live with another boy or girl, and from a residence-provider pov it leaves them open to huge liability and is a safety risk.