Bates College offers housing exclusively for 'womxn of color'

Bates College has announced a new residence hall, Empowering Young Minds (EYM), “for womxn of color and/or marginalized gender.”

The housing invitation will only be extended to “applicants who identify as womxn of color and non-binary students of color.” The creators expect participants to build community by “sharing our intersectionality experiences.”

The Bates Student reports that the idea for the housing project stems from the realization that the three girls were “almost the only Black girls in Page,” their freshman year dorm, alleging specifically that it was because of the college’s classification as a Predominately White Institution (PWI).

The school approved the house, and it will open on campus this fall.

Three freshman students, Aaliyah Moore, Aisatou Barry, and Faith Nwando, proposed the project to the college in April. The girls said it was difficult to meet people like them during their first year and hope the new residence project will allow undergraduate women of color to connect with upperclassmen.

According to the school newspaper, Moore said her loneliness was “a repeating cycle,” that can be broken in the segregated dorm.

The stated main goal of the EYM is networking and creating connections. For this reason, the three girls have proposed a mentor mentee program for each student living in the EYM. However, the participants must both be womxn of color.

Bates College did not respond to Campus Reform’s request for comment.

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