PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY BRIAN MARKS

Credit: John Proppe

April Templeman was pleasantly surprised when she saw that the sign on the family restroom on the third floor of the Student Center had been changed to read, “unisex.”

Templeman, co-chair of the Queer Liberation Front, said she and other members have been talking with university administration about installing more unisex bathrooms to accommodate transgender students.

“I was really excited when I saw it,” she said. “We went to the administration about this because it’s something we’ve seen on other campuses, and we think it needs to be incorporated into our campus as well.”

Thomas Euclide, director of the Office of the University Architect, said although the department doesn’t have the funding to put gender neutral bathrooms into every building on campus, all new designs and renovations will include at least one.

“Taylor Hall is the only building on campus with faculty bathrooms, and we’re looking at ways to convert at least one of those into a unisex bathroom,” he said. “We have grander plans, though.”

Euclide said the hope is to be able to accommodate everyone — families, faculty, staff and all students, including transgender students.

“We plan to add showers and lockers as well, in case faculty or students want to take a run in between classes,” he said.

Because construction cannot begin in Taylor Hall until the School of Journalism and Mass Communication is moved into its new home in Franklin Hall, Euclide said the project won’t be completed until around Christmas.

He also said a unisex bathroom will be installed in the Music and Speech Center in the near future.

“They provide a safe place for all students, whether it be gender-neutral, a family or just a place to change comfortably without having the complications of a public restroom,” Euclide said.

Contact minority affairs reporter Elise Franco at [email protected].