The multi-occupancy student facilities located in residence halls and the Lowry Center will be designated exclusively based on biological sex in compliance with Ohio Senate Bill 104. The legally mandated signage will be implemented over spring break, which begins March 1.
Titled the “Protect All Students Act,” SB 104 requires institutions of higher education to eliminate gender neutral multi-occupancy student facilities by Feb. 25. The law also requires all multi-occupancy student facilities to be designated as such with appropriate signage. Multi-occupancy facilities that are not designated as “student facilities,” including those in academic buildings, are not impacted by these changes. The locations of single-occupancy facilities, which are also unaffected by this law, can be found here.
In residence halls, multi-occupancy facilities will be designated as “student restrooms,” which classifies them for exclusive student use. In the Lowry Center, multi-occupancy facilities will be similarly designated as “student locker rooms.” According to SB 104, faculty and staff are prohibited from using these facilities, except during emergencies or in instances of necessary job-related duties, such as custodial work. According to a statement released on Wednesday, the remainder of the multi-occupancy restrooms on campus are located in administrative and academic buildings, so they are not legally considered “student restrooms.” Because these facilities cannot be designated for exclusive student use, the legislation outlined in SB 104 does not apply. Students are still permitted to use these restrooms if they choose to do so.
While some students expressed concerns over how SB 104 will be enforced, Kenyon’s administration emphasized that it “understand[s] the law’s requirements, and any consequences for noncompliance, to apply to institutions rather than to individuals.”
Students were informed of how the upcoming changes will affect bathrooms just after 2 p.m. on Wednesday, when they received an email specific to their residence hall from the Office of Residential Life (ResLife) and Vice President for Student Affairs Celestino Limas. The multi-occupancy bathrooms in some dormitories, including McBride, Gund, Hanna and Old Kenyon Residence Halls, will be separated by biological sex. In other dorms, including Manning and Bushnell Halls, locks will be installed to the doors of the facilities with a single toilet and shower to designate them as single-occupancy facilities. Residences with no multi-occupancy facilities, including North Campus Apartments and New Apartments, will have no changes.
“At Kenyon, we value every member of our community. This includes our transgender, nonbinary and gender-nonconforming students and colleagues,” Limas wrote. “Our institutional values recognize the fundamental dignity of all and pledge to foster a community in which every person has a sense of full belonging and the tools to reach their full potential. We reaffirm these values today.” He explained that ResLife will be available to discuss alternative housing options for students responding to the changes in their residence halls.
However, for some students, the College’s response came across as apathetic. “It feels like the College has given up on its trans students,” Grace Randall ’26 wrote in a message to the Collegian. “It would’ve been one thing if Kenyon were to assert that, while they might be forced to comply for the moment, there will be an effort made to overturn this law, especially if the College truly believed in ‘foster[ing] a community in which every person had a sense of full belonging,’ as its statement read. They didn’t say that, though; they’ve admitted, no matter their intent, that they do not find Kenyon’s trans students to be worth fighting for.”
In contrast, some students do not fault the administration for the upcoming changes. “I am deeply disappointed with the new policy, although I understand that Kenyon does not have much of a say in this matter,” Conner Gebben ’27 wrote. “I’ll now have to use the [Delta Kappa Epsilon] division bathroom, which I am not looking forward to… but I am far more upset with the way this policy attempts to delegitimize the existence and lived experience of my friends and fellow community members who are not ‘traditionally’ gender-conforming.”
Some are also concerned about the Kenyon community’s response to the broader impact of these changes. “I really think a lot of people here at Kenyon are unaware of the impact an oppressive bill like this will have on the most vulnerable trans and nonbinary kids in schools across the state,” Toms Russ ’28 wrote. “There are a lot of people here who don’t think [the legislation] is a big deal because it won’t affect them or even their close friends. This way of thinking is exactly what desensitizes people to laws like this.”
According to Axyl Watts ’27, the new legislation has moved the College to gender restrooms in some suite style housing. One of Watts’ friends lives in a mixed-sex Caples suite where the only shower — located inside their suite — will now be designated exclusively for biological males. “This is an invasion of their living area,” Watts wrote in a message to the Collegian. “What are the other residents supposed to do? Go upstairs in a towel or robe? What about the nonbinary students? There isn’t a single-stall shower until the third floor. I thought that suite living spaces were safe from gendered bathrooms.”
“I’m transgender, and while I don’t expect the new policy to impact me much, the legislation itself represents a really scary turn for the state,” Wesley Brock ’28 wrote in a message to the Collegian. “Trans youth are in an incredibly vulnerable position right now, facing active threats to their safety and privacy. I want people — specifically cis people — to understand that this goes beyond inconvenience and that we are experiencing a small shock wave from something that holds far broader significance.”
Limas, Provost Jeff Bowman and Vice President and General Counsel Jackie Holmes will be available on Monday from 3 p.m. to 4 p.m. in Archon Auditorium to answer questions regarding the College’s response to SB 104. “We wish that there were a way to comply with the law, as we are required to do, without negatively impacting members of our community,” the Office of Communications statement read. “There is not.”