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Live, study, and socialize with your peers

The specialty community residence program brings together students who share a similar lifestyle preference or are looking for a specific element to their housing experience. It provides unique living environments to students who enjoy sharing intellectual, cultural, and social affinities. Details for making your selection are in your Housing application.

Chemical Free Living

Chemical Free Living is defined as a living environment where all residents and their guests, regardless of age, agree to maintain a chemical free living style on and off campus and keep their living area free from substances at all times. Substances include alcohol, cigarettes, other tobacco products, other smoking materials and all illicit drugs.

Chemical Free Living is offered in Towers South and Bridgman Halls.

Scattered Floor Living

Scattered Floor living is available on Towers North 10th floor for transfer and upperclassman students. Scattered living is defined by female and male rooms alternating throughout the floor thus no specified female or male wings/floors.

Inclusive Housing Apartments/Suites

The purpose of inclusive housing is to offer students a comfortable and safe living environment. Students interested in inclusive housing will be required to embrace suitemates of all gender identities, gender expressions, and sexualities. In inclusive housing areas, living spaces are not designated by assigned sex or gender identity; we encourage students to match with whomever they feel will result in a positive, safe housing experience. We encourage LGBTQIA+ students and allies to select these living areas. Inclusive housing is available in Suites, Chancellors, Haymarket or Aspenson Mogensen for transfer and returning students.

Students may elect a roommate preference of any assigned sex as a roommate. Students interested in Gender Inclusive Housing do need to establish a roommate group that can fill all available spaces within the designated unit. If a vacancy occurs within the unit, the roommate group will be provided a timeline to find a new roommate. If a new roommate is not found, then Housing reserves the right to re-assign the unit to the majority assigned sex and re-assign the other students to other available campus spaces.

Rainbow Floor 

Housing & Residence Life is committed to providing a safe, inclusive and supportive experience for all students. We offer a variety of housing options to ensure our residence halls provide a supportive space for residents of all gender and sexual identities and expressions. For more information regarding our LGBTQIA+ community, please feel free to contact any one of our campus partners below.

As a member of any of the Rainbow Floor communities, you will need to commit to the following Expectations:

  • I commit to maintaining an inclusive and welcoming living environment that is free of discrimination based on gender identity and expression, assigned sex, sexual orientation, or any other form of identity.
  • I will respect all residents of the floor and their guests. I will strive to understand equity, diversity, and inclusion, as well as all sexual and romantic orientations and gender identities.
  • I understand that living on this floor does not indicate a specific assigned sex, sexual orientation or gender identity.
  • I will be willing to learn about and respect community member's comfort levels in regard to disclosure of personal identity/ies and privacy.
  • I will be aware of, and responsible for, my own language and behavior. I will strive to use inclusive language will be open to conversations therein.

The Rainbow Floors, located in Towers Hall, along with the Rainbow Pod, located in Oak Ridge, offer individuals and allies within the LGBTQIA+ community the opportunity to live and learn together. The (new!) trans and gender non-conforming (TGNC) floor, on Towers South 7th floor, offers what our TGNC students have been asking for: an opportunity to live amongst individuals who share the TGNC experience, and to do so in a safe, inclusive community. The general LGBTQIA+ floors on Towers South 8th and in Oak Ridge offer a safe, inclusive living community for the full spectrum of queer identities and allies. Individuals may select any of these Living Community preferences within the housing contract and if a random roommate is elected, assignments are completed randomly without regard to assigned sex, gender identity or expression, or sexuality.

In relation to room changes, assignments, and filling vacant spaces in a room, I understand the following:

  • Students will be assigned to the Rainbow Floors if they preference any of these communities, or if all other spaces within UWEC residence halls have been filled and space is needed to place students.
  • If a roommate leaves the room and community, UWEC Housing reserves the right to consolidate and/or fill the vacancy with another student who has expressed interest in these floors.
  • Failure to adhere to the community living standards, and/or exhibiting behavior that is contrary to the spirit of this community, may result in reassignment to a residence hall room outside the Rainbow Floors. The residence hall contract will remain in effect in cases where the student is removed from any of these communities as the contract is for any available space within Housing.
  • Assignment on these floors is based on availability, and a student’s expressed interest to live in these communities does not guarantee such assignment by the University.

For more information regarding our LGBTQIA+ community, please feel free to contact any one of our campus partners below.

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