Explore Residence Halls

Out on Campus - LGBTQ Community

Life changes can sometimes feel a bit scary, and the transition to life at the University is no exception. Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender

Staff picture "read about my story"

"Read my story"

and questioning [LGBTQ] students may have particular concerns about life at UNH:

  • Can I be out on campus? How safe is UNH?
  • Will my roommate be supportive?
  • What campus resources exist to support LGBTQ students?
  • Is it easy to make friends? What’s the LGBTQ community like in Durham?
  • I’m transitioning/ transgender. What housing options are available for me?

This website is intended to provide you with information that may begin to help you answer these questions. We hope that your visit to this site marks the beginning of a conversation, not the end. If you have additional questions, ideas or concerns, we’d love to hear from you: via email, over the phone or in person.

We’re committed to ensuring that UNH’s residential communities are a safe and supportive environment for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning students to discover, learn and grow. Our staff is here to promote the academic and personal success of all our students. Whether you are an ally, an out student, or someone who is not out, these are some resources here for you at UNH: OMSA: Office of Multicultural Student Affairs & Alliance: UNH Alliance Website.

 

 

 

The Department of Residential Life is committed to creating communities that are inclusive and supportive of LGBTQ students. We hire staff who are inclusive, we offer programs that are educational and that celebrate diversity, and we have a protocol in place to address prejudice incidents in the halls.

Each residence hall has a full-time Hall Director who lives in the building and is responsible for making the hall a vibrant, respectful, educational community. We also provide extensive diversity training to our Resident Assistants. We educate residents about a variety of topics and diversity is high on our list of priorities. Our goal is to encourage students to explore and celebrate diversity. Our staff aggressively confronts anti-gay sentiments in our halls. We simply won’t tolerate this type of behavior whether it is written or verbal. We realize we can’t necessarily change people’s beliefs, however, any acts of prejudice directed at under-represented groups in our community will not be tolerated.

More Information:

Lu Ferrell, Coordinator of LGBTQ Student Services

Victoria WIlson, Assistant Director of Housing for Occupancy and Assignment

The Housing and Residential Life staff at The University of New Hampshire are committed to working with all students to meet their housing needs in a nurturing community that values diversity and promotes dignity of all people.

If you are a student who would like individual consideration regarding your housing assignment due to gender identity/expression, please let us know as soon as possible. It is easier for Housing to work to meet your needs if contact is made earlier in the process (mid-March for upper-class students and prior to June 1st for first year students) as there are more available spaces in a wider variety of locations prior to those times. Incoming students should contact Housing directly with inquiries. Current students are encouraged to contact their Residence Hall Director or Housing. Residential Life and Housing staff will discuss information that is related to housing needs and disclosed information will be kept confidential.

It is our sincere desire to have a comfortable and welcoming living situation for all of our students. Recognizing that students are not all alike, we will try to assist each student individually who expresses a desire or need, given the factors that are within our control, as we strive to respect the gender identity that you establish with University housing.

We are in the process of assessing our campus bathrooms, and we have begun to indentify appropriate places for gender-neutral bathrooms. Right now, there are gender-neutral bathroom options in Haaland Hall, each floor on Devine Hall (a building in the Upper Quad), Engelhardt Hall, McLaughlin Hall, Fairchild Hall, and several bathrooms in the Mini Dorms.

If at any time you would like to discuss on-campus living issues related to gender identity/expression, the following professional staff may be helpful and we encourage you to contact them.

Lu Ferrell
Coordinator of LGBTQ Student Services
Office of Multicultural Student Affairs
(603) 862-5053
lu.ferrell@unh.edu

Victoria Wilson
Assistant Director of Housing for Occupancy and Assignments
Department of Housing
(603) 862-2120 
victoria.wilson@unh.edu

 

University of New Hampshire rules and policies protect students, faculty and staff from discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, gender, identity or expression, sexual orientation, age, veteran's status, or disability, in admission or access to, or treatment or employment in, its program or activities.

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