Specialized Communities
Carnegie Mellon University Carnegie is committed to providing identity-conscious housing options and strives to make on-campus housing a safe, inclusive, and welcoming space for all students. The Queer Community is an opportunity for students inclusive of any sex assigned at birth, gender identity, or gender expression to share a room in a select house community. The Queer Community is designed for students in the LGBTQ+ community.
Queer Community
The Queer Community is an opt-in residential community and is open to any student, but specifically designed for students who are LGBTQ+, trans/nonbinary, and those exploring gender identity. Specific programming will be offered by the Welch House team and other campus partners. The Queer Community is in Welch House, one of CMU's suite-style communities, and allows students to live in the same room with any other student inclusive of sex assigned at birth, gender identity, gender expression, and/or sexual orientation. In suite-style bathrooms, students share their bathroom with their roommate and two other students in an adjacent room. Students are also responsible for cleaning their bathroom. Note: Students who opt into the Queer Community and do not choose their own roommate may be placed with a roommate of any gender identity. The Queer Community is not intended for romantic couples.
The Application Process
Students who are interested in the Queer Community should:
- Select the "Queer Community" option from the Specialized Communities page of the housing application.
- List the Queer Community building (Welch House for 2023-24) as their top building preference on their first-year housing application.
Residents who opt into the Queer Community will be assigned together on a floor within the designated house community. Generally, the Queer Community will be located in a building with semi-suite style rooms.
Roommates
First-year students who apply to live in the Queer Community can see other applicants of the Queer Community on the roommates page of the housing application. Students can contact prospective roommates through the housing application or request roommates they contacted independently. Both roommates need to have selected the Queer Community in their housing application in order to be able to find and confirm each other as roommates.
Students are not required to identify their own roommate. If a student does not indicate a roommate on their housing application, they will be assigned another roommate who preferenced wanting to live in the Queer Community based on their compatibility as determined by their roommate profile responses.
Resources
The Center for Student Diversity and Inclusion offers resources to achieve an inclusive and transformative experience for all students. The Center supports and connects historically underrepresented students in their experience at Carnegie Mellon. In the pursuit of equity, the Center also coordinates a network of faculty and staff interested in collectively advancing a more inclusive campus climate for all CMU students. Students interested in LGBTQ+ resources should contact the Center.