Colleges End Trans-Friendly Housing Policies Amid Federal Anti-DEI Push

This story is part of our monthly series, Campus Dispatch. Read the rest of the stories in the series here.

Universities across the country are rewriting, rolling back, or quietly erasing policies and programs that guaranteed trans and nonbinary students access to gender-inclusive housing and campus support. In recent months, institutions have faced a stark choice: Comply with vague, high-stakes federal mandates, or uphold policies rooted in safety, equity, and belonging—at the risk of losing federal funding.

In January 2025, President Donald Trump issued a series of sweeping executive orders dismantling diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) efforts. Higher education quickly became one of the most visible battlegrounds, with several anti-trans orders targeting protections such as gender-inclusive housing, campus resource centers, and participation on athletic teams that align with students’ identities.

Universities have scrambled to comply in the months following. Many schools dismantled LGBTQ+ support centers, stripped affirming language from websites, and removed inclusive housing options that had seen a rising demand in recent years.

Now, with students back on campus, many are returning to a dramatically altered housing landscape. Schools that once offered housing communities dedicated to LGBTQ+ students have ended their programs, bathrooms that previously displayed all-gender signage are now designated male or female, and LGBTQ+ resource centers that connected students to counseling or peer support have been shuttered.

Research shows that transgender students report worse mental health, less stable housing, higher rates of suicide, and weaker feelings of connection at school compared to their cisgender peers. Students say that stripping away the structures that once made college feel like a refuge could make those disparities even more pronounced. And for some of those students, those changes are not just bureaucratic, but life-threatening.

Executive orders hit higher ed

Trump’s executive orders quickly reshaped higher education policy this year.

In January, the Department of Education was directed to revise Title IX guidance, which had ensured that students could not be discriminated against in education programs, housing, or athletics because of their gender identity. Another order threatened to withhold federal funding from public institutions that maintained DEI programs, while a third banned federally-funded schools from allowing transgender women to compete on women’s athletic teams. Together, the changes signaled a sweeping rollback of crucial protections for transgender and nonbinary students across campuses.

These measures directly affect a relatively small share of university students: Inside Higher Ed reported in April 2023 that in 2022, 2.2 percent of fall applicants identified as transgender or nonbinary, and 3 percent used pronouns other than she/her or he/him.

Yet these students are among the most dependent on specialized housing and support programs—resources that universities have steadily expanded since the 1960s, when civil rights protections first pushed schools to better serve marginalized populations. Now, Trump’s executive orders have prompted schools and collegiate associations to preemptively review, scale back, or eliminate those very resources.

Researchers have long argued that gender-inclusive policies can directly influence transgender and nonbinary students’ mental health, safety, and academic success. A 2024 survey by the Trevor Project, an organization that works to combat LGBTQ+ youth suicide, found that transgender and nonbinary students who described their schools as gender-affirming reported lower rates of suicide attempts than peers in unsupportive environments. Separate research from UCLA’s Williams Institute, drawing on the 2015 U.S. Transgender Survey of adults, showed that people who experienced discrimination because of their transgender identity attempted suicide at more than double the rate of those who did not experience such mistreatment.

Together, these findings highlight the stakes of schools scaling back support. Trans rights advocates, including those from the non-profit rights watchdog Human Rights Watch, warn that compliance with anti-trans policies fosters a climate of fear and suppression.

Campuses that had previously championed gender-inclusive residential life are now reassessing their commitments. For transgender and nonbinary students, this isn’t just about paperwork—it’s about the place they call home. When students are forced into environments that misgender them or mark them as outsiders, their safety net is stripped away, destabilizing what should be the most secure foundation of their college experience.

Redrawing the lines of inclusion

In July 2025, the University of Pennsylvania made an agreement with the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights, agreeing to bar transgender women from women’s athletics programs. The agreement, made in part to ensure continued federal funding after the White House suspended $175 million to the Ivy League in March 2025, also required the university to review and amend its women’s swimming records. The university ultimately revoked the records of Lia Thomas, a trans woman and former NCAA champion who swam for UPenn from 2017 to 2022.

As part of its compliance, Penn stated it would now adhere to Title IX “as interpreted by the Department of Education” to define “biological sex” as either male or female, as assigned at birth.

When Rewire News Group reached Penn for comment, a university spokesperson referred to two public statements regarding Title IX compliance, writing: “This is information that may be useful to you.”

Many in Penn’s community have reacted with sharp criticism. Mara Davis, president of the campus queer graduate student group LTBGS, said she was “disgusted by the leadership at Penn blindly following executive orders whilst ignoring our insignia, ‘laws without morals are useless.’” She called the decision “deplorable” and one which “sets a horrible precedent.”

“We are walking a dangerous path,” Davis said.

Davis also argued the university’s capitulation reflects a broader trend of “institutions leaving their morals by the wayside to pursue continued financial safety,” adding that “faculty and students alike are outraged.”

Housing safety at risk

While UPenn appears to be responding to direct federal pressure, other universities across the country are voluntarily adopting similar policies—redrawing the lines of inclusion on campus and fueling growing concern among LGBTQ+ students and advocacy groups.

In February, the University of Kansas (KU) announced that Grace Pearson Hall—once an inclusive co-ed hall with community-style restroom accessibility—will no longer offer gender-inclusive housing starting in fall 2025. The hall will instead assign rooms and designate bathrooms based on each student’s gender marker in the KU housing portal. Student leaders say the change erases vital support for residents who have not come out or updated their gender marker, as well as for gender-nonconforming students who may feel forced into housing that doesn’t reflect their identity.

“The removal of inclusive facilities in a hall like Grace Pearson is extremely damaging to a student’s sense of belonging,” hall president Meghan Arias told RNG in an interview, noting that about half the dorm’s residents identify as transgender or nonbinary. “It’s interpreted as a sign that our university wishes to make queer residents disappear until the political climate changes.”

Arias emphasized the change was not required by law.

“No order from the federal or state government forced them to remove our inclusive facilities,” Arias said. “Instead, they were preemptively taken away in an effort to avoid scrutiny which may never come.”

KU student Emily Harter stressed the need for belonging on campus.

“I think it is important to make all identities feel welcome at our university,” Harter said. “Our school should be a safe space where all feel welcome and can find resources and community that they may not otherwise have outside of KU.”

In the wake of these policy shifts, students have organized protests and community events.

At the University of North Carolina, Asheville, a policy first issued in 2013 was updated in June 2025 to require students to submit legal gender documentation, such as a driver’s license or birth certificate, to access gendered housing. In practice, this makes it harder for trans and nonbinary students who haven’t legally updated their documents to access the housing that aligns with their identity.

In a statement to RNG, university spokesperson Brian Hart stated the change was prompted by “federal guidance, UNC System policy as well as internal procedural alignment to ensure we maintain clean and accurate data.”

Hart said that a review identified “a gap between evidentiary thresholds for determining a student’s sex in Housing and Residence Life and the University’s system of record,” prompting the school to align its housing procedures with the registrar’s standards.

Hart added that impacted students were offered multiple options, from free reassignment to off-campus housing referrals, adding the process aimed to “prevent housing instability and ensure student success.”

In February, Utah passed a law barring transgender students from living in dorms aligned with their gender identity. Under the policy, students must choose between single rooms in co-ed halls or housing based on sex assigned at birth. Utah State University confirmed to Inside Higher Ed it is assigning rooms “consistent with the new law.”

While acknowledging the legal mandate, USU Associate Vice President for Strategic Communications Amanda DeRito told RNG in an emailed statement the university “follows all applicable laws in the management of on-campus student housing while striving to create a welcoming environment where all students feel comfortable so they can focus on academics.”

The impact extends beyond policy. In February 2025, the Salt Lake Tribune reported that transgender USU student Marcie Robertson told lawmakers her life had become “excruciating” after she was placed as a resident adviser in a women’s dorm, a conflict that led to online harassment and death threats. She said the new law felt tailored against her personally, illustrating how restrictive housing policies expose trans students to heightened scrutiny and hostility.

At the same hearing, Robertson’s mother described how her daughter’s excitement about the role quickly turned to fear and sadness, adding, “Being afraid of someone different from yourself is no reason to bully them.”

Resource centers under pressure

Campus changes aren’t confined to housing. Since 2023, at least 20 of LGBTQ+ resource centers and related programs have been closed or absorbed into broader ‘student support’ offices, particularly in states with anti-DEI laws. Students and advocates say the loss of these spaces compounds the harm of housing restrictions by further reducing access to affirming resources.

At the University of Alabama, officials shuttered the LGBTQ+ Resource Center altogether. For alum Caitlin Foley, a family law attorney who volunteers with LGBTQ+ advocacy groups, the loss is deeply personal: “It was a place where many of my friends could breathe, exist, and be respected,” she said. “Taking that away sends the message that they don’t belong.”

A similar rollback is unfolding at Georgia Tech, where the LGBTQ+ Resource Center will not reopen for the 2025–26 school year and has instead been absorbed into the “Belonging & Student Support Department,” a unit designed to “promote belonging and intercultural competencies” among all students.

Georgia Tech Pride Alliance President Kaspian Lucille Hayes told RNG losing the center could be detrimental to students’ sense of safety on campus.

“Having a consistent physical space with people that are in your corner is a big comfort to people,” Hayes said, noting that the impact is especially sharp for those new to the region. “Some students come here from out of state and are scared about what it’s like to be queer in the South. Knowing someone is always accessible makes a huge difference.”

Models of inclusion show what’s possible

Not all universities are rolling back their gender-inclusive housing policies.

Winona State University in Minnesota is keeping its gender-inclusive housing options available, alongside campus-wide training to support LGBTQ+ and trans students. The university also maintains an Office of Inclusivity and Excellence.

“At Winona State University, we want all students from all backgrounds to feel welcomed and comfortable in their home away from home,” said a university spokesperson. “Students who feel welcomed are more likely to be successful at college and progress towards their academic goals.”

At Portland State University, in Oregon, incoming students can select from a range of gender-inclusive living communities and have access to all-gender restrooms in most buildings. And on the other side of the country, the University of Vermont appears to have maintained its gender-neutral housing, and also provides an online guide for trans and nonbinary students navigating campus life, from name changes on records to accessing health care.

Advocates say these models show what’s possible even amid shifting political headwinds.

“It’s not just about avoiding harm—it’s about creating spaces where trans and nonbinary students can thrive,” Foley said. “When universities invest in training, resources, and affirming housing, they’re sending a clear message: You belong here.”

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