The State University of New York College of Environmental Science and
Forestry’s Academic Governance body recently passed a resolution
,
44-11, calling for bathroom equity on campus. Faculty have said a lack
of accessibility has plagued SUNY-ESF for years, leaving some students —
especially transgender students — often feeling uncomfortable using the
bathrooms.
The resolution asks the administration to conduct a bathroom audit,
change the signage of some bathrooms in the Gateway Center, renovate and
re-designate other bathrooms across campus and write a policy to
improve bathroom equity for future buildings.
“The excuses that I hear are our buildings are old and we don’t have a
lot of money, and lack of money in different places, but at some point
we need to invest in the comfort in the people that work here,” said
Kelley Donaghy, an associate professor of chemistry and one of the
co-writers of the resolution.
The administration is to present its results of the study and plans
for renovation by May 11, the next Academic Governance meeting. While
President Quentin Wheeler has expressed support for the resolution,
nothing has been done yet to Donaghy’s knowledge, she said.
In Illick Hall, there are 38 places for men to use the bathroom,
while only eight for women, according to the resolution. Many of ESF’s
buildings were constructed when the campus was predominantly male, the
resolution notes, but now the campus sees “more balanced diversity of
genders.” Additionally, not all restrooms are Americans with
Disabilities Act-compliant, Donaghy said.
The discussion for a resolution only came this semester, though.
Donaghy said she was inspired by the film “Hidden Figures,” where one of
the main characters, who is black, is forced to walk across campus to
use the bathroom because of segregation.
Knowing that many transgender students at SUNY-ESF don’t feel
comfortable using the restrooms, Donaghy went to the chemistry
department and suggested changing Jahn Laboratory’s third floor women’s
restroom into an all-gender bathroom.
While most of the women on the floor supported the change, it was
blocked because of a code rule about bathroom equity — the building
couldn’t change over a women’s bathroom without changing over a men’s,
Donaghy said.
Instead, Sierra Jech, a graduate chemistry student, came up with the
idea to change both the men’s and women’s first floor bathrooms in Jahn
to all-gender bathrooms, Donaghy said. They created a petition that
reached close to 300 signatures.
“We wanted to show the chemistry department that more than just
chemistry students would be using the restroom, and we also wanted to
show that there was widespread support,” Jech said.
SUNY-ESF’s Undergraduate Student Association voted in support of both
the petition and resolution, said Ben Taylor, the organization’s
president. The association previously passed a resolution calling for
more gender-inclusive bathroom spaces. The issue hasn’t been contentious
among students, Taylor said.
But the resolution was debated at the Academic Governance meeting,
said Heidi Webb, library technician at ESF and one of the co-writers of
the resolution. One of the biggest pushbacks has been over the bathroom
codes for buildings.
Brian Boothroyd, assistant director of physical plant for facilities
at ESF, who spoke at the meeting, said he is in support of the
resolution but added that it’s not as simple as just changing the signs
on the doors. While this is a priority and some changes might be easy to
make, there needs to be a deeper evaluation of other facilities before
major renovations happen, he said.
“A change to accommodate one group might negatively affect another group that we don’t even know of yet,” Boothroyd said.
But Donaghy and Webb argue that there are some bathrooms that can be
changed immediately. In Gateway, there are two single-occupancy
bathrooms — one labeled for men and the other women — that they said
could easily be relabeled. Changing these bathrooms was one of the key
points in the resolution.
“Since we have these two single-stall bathrooms that are lockable
from the inside,” Donaghy said, “… Why is this even a concern? It should
have been done the day after the resolution.”
Another concern was that some of the bathrooms, like the ones in
Jahn, were multi-stall. The resolution cites other SUNY campuses with
all-gender bathrooms, like SUNY Stony Brook, Geneseo and Oneonta. At the
meeting, those arguing against the changes brought up concerns of
hygiene and safety.
Janine DeBaise, an instructor of writing and literature classes at
ESF, said some of these arguments are “absurd” and that there are no
mysterious hygiene issues — men and women can share bathrooms, just like
in family homes, she said.
People also argued that women might not feel safe using the same
facility as men. Webb said there are holes in this argument, though, and
she dislikes it because it says that men can’t control themselves.
“If women don’t feel safe, that’s a larger issue and we need to
figure why they don’t feel safe,” Webb said. “It has to be they don’t
feel safe beyond the bathroom too, right?”
While most of the SUNY-ESF campus — across faculty, staff and
students — seem in support of increasing bathroom equity across campus,
Donaghy said that those against the proposal need to consider how it
could increase comfort for many on campus.
“When someone says to me, ‘I’m uncomfortable with this,’” Donaghy
said, “I want to just say, ‘But other people are uncomfortable with our
current circumstances too. Why is your comfort more important?’”
RESOLUTION TO
REQUEST BATHROOM EQUITY ON ESF’S MAIN CAMPUS
Sponsored
by the Executive Committee of Academic Governance
Whereas it is acknowledged that
some of our buildings are old and were built when the campus gender demographic
was predominately male; and
Whereas the gender demographic on
this campus has changed significantly since, approaching a more balanced
diversity of genders; and
Whereas a recent bathroom audit of
Illick Hall revealed that men have 38 places (urinals and toilets) to relieve
themselves and women only have 8; and
Whereas it was recently calculated
that women in Illick Hall routinely lose approximately 40 minutes a month
either waiting in line for a stall or walking between floors or to another
building and often cannot use a facility between classes; and
Whereas genderIspecific bathrooms
present problems for parents needing to travel with differently gendered
children and disabled people with differently gendered attendants; and
Whereas there are buildings on
campus without ADA accessible bathrooms for both genders or at least one all
gender fully accessible bathroom and many bathrooms currently designated as
handicap accessible are likely only minimally accessible; and
Whereas there are currently few facilities on the SUNYIESF campus where
individuals not on the gender binary, transgender, gender nonIconforming, or
transitioning individuals are comfortable “Peeing in Peace”;1 and
Whereas a recent petition
requesting that the first floor men’s and women’s multiIstall bathrooms in the
Jahn Laboratory which has a wealth of bathrooms having been constructed after
1993, be reIdesignated as all gender was signed by approximately 275 (and
counting) community members; and
Whereas the Jahn Chemistry Faculty
passed a motion in support of all gender bathrooms but requesting that the
College investigate the renovation of existing bathrooms including the cost and
impacts on students, faculty and staff; and
Whereas the Undergraduate Student
Association passed Resolution 05.2015: A Resolution Recommending the SUNYIESF
Administration Implement Gender Inclusive Spaces; and
Whereas at the 172nd
Plenary of the SUNY University Faculty Senate a resolution was passed
recommending the SUNY Wide Implementation of Gender Inclusive Spaces;2
and
Whereas a new bill is being
considered within the New York State Legislature “that would make all
singleIoccupancy restrooms in public places gender neutral”;3 and
Whereas Syracuse
and New York State include gender identity under Title VII, a Federal law that
protects all employees from discrimination;4 and
Whereas the Occupational Safety
and Health Administration (OSHA) has published clear guidelines for “Best
Practices, A guide to restrooms access for transgender workers” 5 ;
and
Whereas OSHA also recommends
that there be one water closet for every 15 employees6;
Therefore be it resolved that
Academic Governance requests that ESF administration and the ESF Capital
Planning Committee perform a bathroom audit that includes: assessing the
current accessibility, availability, and ADA compliance of all handicap
restrooms; investigating the cost and feasibility of renovating and
reIdesignating the Jahn first floor bathrooms as all gender; reassigning some
men’s bathrooms as women’s rooms in Illick Hall; and
Be it further resolved that
Academic Governance requests that ESF administration charge physical plant with
reIdesignating the second floor bathrooms located in the Gateway Building (side
by side, singleIstall lockable for individual occupancy, men’s and women’s
bathrooms) immediately and the change be advertised widely; and
Be it further resolved that
Academic Governance requests that the ESF Administration and the Capital
Planning Committee seek to achieve bathroom equity across campus by renovating
and reI designating other bathrooms in other buildings; and
Be it further
it resolved that Academic Governance requests that the ESF Administration
create a policy to ensure that all new buildings constructed and all future
renovations in existing buildings on the ESF campus be built with fully
accessible all gender bathrooms, exclusively; and
Finally, be it
resolved that Academic Governance requests that the ESF Administration and the
Capital Planning Committee report the results of their study and their plans
for renovation of current facilities at the May 2017 meeting of Academic
Governance.
