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Family housing becomes a home, community

Say the words "student housing," and people will begin to complain about the cost of living in South Quad, or how difficult it is to find a spot in a co-op.

Worries about child care and running a household probably won't come up, unless you're talking to one of the more than 1,520 residents of family housing.

Family housing provides residents with spots in townhouses or apartments. Northwood I, II and III apartments and Northwood IV and V townhouses on North Campus provide the majority of family housing. Observatory Lodge Apartments, located near Mary Markley, is the only family housing facility located on Central Campus.

"Eligibility (for family housing) in rank order is: a married couple or a same-sex domestic partnership couple with one or more dependent children," said Alan Levy, director of public affairs and information for University Housing. "A single parent with dependent children (is also a high priority)."

Bob Sitar, a sixth-year doctoral student in physics and a resident of the Northwood V complex, said he is pleased with the University's facilities. "For the price, it's probably the best housing available," Sitar said. "I don't think I could afford to live off-campus."

Sitar said he and his 5-year-old daughter, Brittany, have few complaints about the apartment. "The apartment is about 30-feet long and 13-feet wide. It's almost like living in a trailer.

"It kind of has the `hallway' feeling," Sitar said.

Connie McMahan, a single parent and LSA senior, said she found more pronounced flaws in family housing. "I had a really bad experience. I lived there for 10 months," she said. "I found it very isolating. Most of the people I found in my housing unit were two-parent families where the husband went to school and the mothers were stay-at-home mothers. I couldn't relate to them, because I was playing the role of the husband by going to school."

McMahan said she knows a group of single women who now live in the same unit. "It's great, because they can be like, `Will you watch my kids?' to one another and they understand each other."

Family housing was the subject of debate two years ago. In September 1993 the Board of Regents proposed an amendment to Bylaw 14.06, the University's policy on non-discrimination. The proposed amendment added "sexual orientation" to the list of bases on which the University could not discriminate.

The amendment included the stipulation that "same sex couples will have the same access to family housing as married couples."

Although the amendment passed at the May 1994 regents' meeting, it was met with strong opposition from some community members, including Regent Deane Baker (R-Ann Arbor).

Levy said there are currently five same-sex couples registered with the Housing office.