A comfortable place to stay
Every LGBTQ+ person deserves to come back to a safe place to relax, spend time with friends, and sleep - every night. At IU, we're committed to making that happen.
Spectrum Thematic Community
Spectrum is a Thematic Community - a group of likeminded people living on the same floor of a residence hall - focused on providing a safe environment for students of all sexual orientations and gender identities. It's a great option for students looking for a tight-knit living community that's explicitly LGBTQ+ affirming.
Collins Living Learning Community
The Collins LLC cultivates community through leadership, sustainability, humanities, and the arts. Although it is not explicitly themed around LGBTQ+ issues, the students who choose to live there are usually highly passionate about social justice work. It typically has a higher proportion of LGBTQ+ students than other residence halls. There are a number of other benefits to living in Collins, like the chance to participate in exclusive courses and student programming, utilize a variety of arts studios, and apply for Collins scholarships. There are also apartments at Hillcrest for students who have already spent a year or more in Collins.
Sharing your specific needs
If you're queer, or especially if you're trans and/or disabled, you might have specific requirements for your living situation. Residential Programs & Services can work with you to understand and meet your needs.
On your housing application, you can indicate that you are transgender or another gender besides man or woman. In doing this, you let the staff know of your situation and they can better accomodate you. They may reach out to understand your needs better.
Additionally, you can proactively reach out to the assignments office to discuss your needs. You can call the AskRPS phone line at (812) 855-1764, or send a message through their contact form. Be sure to specify that you are transgender, queer, and/or disabled to be routed to the correct team.
Feeling unsafe?
If you do encounter a living environment that isn't safe for you, there are resources to help. You can choose one or more of the following options, in whatever order you'd like.
If you or someone else is in immediate danger, please call 911.
- Get help navigating the situation & IU's various offices: Reach out to the Division of Student Life to find support and get pointed to the right place for your problem.
- Talk to someone who knows what you're going through: The LGBTQ+ Culture Center is happy to talk with you, hear what you're experiencing, and help you find solutions. Feel free to call us at (812) 855-4252, or send us an email at glbtserv@iu.edu.
- Try to resolve the situation: Reach out to your RA and/or the Residence Life Coordinator for your residence hall for help managing your relationship with the unsafe person, documenting the problem, and working towards a resolution.
- Get moved to a new room: Contact AskRPS via phone at (812) 855-1764 or through their online contact form. Be sure to mention in your initial contact that you are a queer or trans person who feels unsafe in their residence hall, and that you want to talk to the Assignments office to be assigned to a different room. In most cases, there are emergency rooms available for LGBTQ+ students in unsafe situations, where you can live until a permanent resolution is found.
Restrooms in the residence halls
Most of IUB's residence halls have single-occupant restrooms and shower rooms. However, there are a few that do not, and only feature community restrooms. Learn more about types of restrooms in residence halls.
Which types of restrooms are in each residence hall?
Residence halls which have only single-occupant shower rooms/restrooms and no community shower rooms/restrooms include:
- Briscoe
- Collins Edmondson
- Forest
- McNutt
- Teter
- Union Street Center
- Willkie
Residence halls that have a combination of single-occupant shower rooms/restrooms and community shower rooms/restrooms include:
- Ashton Stempel
- Collins Smith, Cravens
- Foster Shea, Martin, Harper, Magee, Jenkinson
- Spruce
- Wright (available starting in the 24-25 school year)
- Wells
Residence halls that do not have any single-occupant shower rooms/restrooms include:
- Ashton - Moffatt, Johnston, Hershey, Vos
- Eigenmann*
- Read*
*Eigenmann and Read contain a small number of single-occupant restrooms on their 1st floors, but no single-occupant shower rooms.
Looking for single-occupant restrooms elsewhere?
A map of single-occupant restrooms across the IUB campus is available.