Students who cannot make a decision between the traditional male or female bathrooms will not be forced to choose at Sarah Lawrence College next year.

In order to accommodate transgender students, the college has changed several of its campus bathrooms to unisex bathrooms and has also allowed students of different genders to share the same dormitory suite.

Sarah Lawrence’s Assistant Dean for Residential Life Sarah Cardwell said parts of the campus were “de-genderized” as a result of a group effort by college students and administration.

“It’s definitely a national trend, and we decided to go ahead and be pro-active about it,” Cardwell said.

Most students at Sarah Lawrence will not be affected by the changes, Cardwell said. She estimated the college enrolled about four transgender students in their undergraduate population of 1,100.

The changes were made at the college after student committees recommended the changes to the college’s president this year. Cardwell said the president then addressed the issue at a faculty meeting, and another committee approved the switches.

“There is some confusion just because [the changes are] new and we’re using new terms now,” she said. “A lot of the students are pretty open-minded…and people who really needed the switch were pleased.”

Cardwell said a large part of accommodating transgender students was merely changing the language used on campus.

“We didn’t use pronouns — we went with the term ‘all gender’ — or asked what people wanted to be called when things were open to anybody,” Cardwell said.

Cardwell pointed out that the new housing is not specifically for transgender students, and transgender students may still sign up for same-gender housing. Cardwell said the changes will affect next year’s housing lottery.

The University of Wisconsin Lesbian, Bisexual, Gay and Transgender Director Eric Trekell said the organization has not lobbied for similar changes at UW.

“There has been some effort by student groups to get some unisex bathrooms around campus,” Trekell said. “But I don’t think that particular legislation has reached Wisconsin yet.”

UW Professor of Psychology and Women’s Studies Janet S. Hyde said issues surrounding bathroom use for transgender students are extremely stressful, especially for a male-to-female transgender.

Hyde also said transgender people make up less than one percent of the American population.

“It’s a group that’s often ignored,” Hyde said. “I think it’s important we be sensitive to their needs.”

Hyde said transgender students who had special needs would most likely attend schools that specially accommodate transgender students, such as Sarah Lawrence College.

Hyde also said the issue was not on UW’s radar as of now.

“I think they maybe just haven’t thought about it yet,” Hyde said.

Peter, bartender at Ray’s Bar, which supports Madison’s transgender, gay and lesbian population, said the bar does not have unisex bathrooms. Peter said special admittance to the bathrooms depends on the bar’s patrons each night.

“We kind of cater to the crowd who’s here, and [admittance to the bathrooms] depends on who’s comfortable with whom,” he said. “If the crowd’s a bunch of people who don’t care, then it’s not a problem, but there are some women who get very upset.”

He did not wish to disclose his last name.

UW sophomore Melanie Musial said she understands how transgender students may feel about housing and bathroom issues, but thinks creating one unisex bathroom in each building along with separate men and women’s bathrooms would put all students at ease. “I personally wouldn’t feel comfortable walking into a bathroom and seeing a guy peeing in a urinal,” Musial said.