Charlie Barlow plans to room with one of his best friends next semester at the University of Chicago: Lauren "Lulu'' Danzig.
The two are among 50 students who will take advantage of a new policy allowing male and female undergraduates to room together -- something that was forbidden throughout the 117-year history of the Hyde Park school.
The change in policy was debated for the last couple of years after advocates for transgender students pushed the university to allow "gender neutral'' housing. They said some transgender students feel uncomfortable rooming with students of the same biological sex when they actually identify with the opposite sex....