LOGAN — A mother says she is still “in shock” about how a housing decision unfolded for her daughter attending Utah State University.
“I feel disappointment in the school that they do not feel like it is important to protect women and girls and their right to privacy and private spaces,” Cheryl Saltzman told Cache Valley Daily in an interview on Friday.
Saltzman says her daughter, who is a Freshman at USU, learned over the holiday break she would be getting a new resident assistant at her apartment-style housing. What she didn’t know was the new RA had a different gender identity.
That made her daughter uncomfortable and ultimately led to a last-minute move before the Spring semester began this week.
“I was in shock that they would put her in that position,” Saltzman said.
Saltzman, who is an alumna of the university, says she supported her daughter going to USU because she felt like it was “a more conservative and safe choice.”
But her opinion has changed over the past week.
“I feel like my trust has really been violated.”
She says while USU notified her daughter of the new roommate in advance of the semester – it only provided the name and contact email of the new resident assistant, but nothing about gender-identity.
“There was no attempt to make sure they were comfortable with the situation – at all,” she said.
Saltzman feels that puts students in an uncomfortable position to not find out until moving in and possibly need to make a decision that could hurt feelings.
It made her feel like her daughter’s safety and security wasn’t important.
“Girls and women, their privacy and safety is not a priority – that’s how I feel,” she said.
Due to privacy laws, USU said it could not provide specifics about student situations, but did explain its practices.
Merrill Hall is a co-ed residence hall with apartment-style living where each apartment has its own private bathroom, according to USU. It does not have all-female or all-male residence halls. Students may choose where to live based on the gender they report on their housing application. While the bathroom is shared between three private bedrooms in the living space, Saltzman says her daughter was not in the same bedroom as the RA. The apartments have electronic key entry. Click here to see a virtual tour of the living space.
“USU Student Housing strives to create a welcoming environment where all students can thrive regardless of their backgrounds or viewpoints,” USU spokesperson Amanda DeRito wrote in a statement.
Saltzman said USU did accommodate her daughter’s concern and promptly offered a housing alternative when requested over the weekend, before classes began on Jan. 6. Saltzman says she came to help her daughter quickly move to a different building over the weekend.
USU said it complies with both federal and state law, which prohibit discrimination in housing and employment based on gender identity.
“Because of that, we do not ask if a student is transgender,” the statement went on to say. “Likewise, we do not ask potential employees if they are transgender when applying for employment.”
USU does provide gender-inclusive housing, which is available at Wasatch Hall in the Student Living Center, a different building on campus.
DeRito said residence assistants are students who act as peer advisors, but do not act in a parental role (i.e. “dorm mom” or “dorm dad”). She also said women and men serve as RAs and offer peer advising to students assigned to them, including either men or women.
“The residence assistant in question applied, interviewed, and was selected through the same process as other RA applicants for the semester, and like all new employees, had to pass a background check.”
The university says the RA have access to their own living space, but do not access the living spaces of other individuals. Also, access cards for all spaces are only used in emergencies and is trackable.
Saltzman publicly posted about the situation on social media and it went viral on X (formerly known as Twitter) grabbing the attention of millions nationwide, including state lawmaker and Utah State House of Representatives Speaker Mike Schultz. He reposted the tweet and wrote, “We will not tolerate this any longer. In the session starting in two weeks, we will make it clear: female spaces are for biological females only. No woman should ever feel compelled to relocate to feel safe and comfortable on our college campuses.”
USU’s statement went on to say it is evaluating its current policies, due to the feedback.
“Since this situation has been shared on social media, we have heard from many people in our campus community as well as external stakeholders who have voiced a variety of viewpoints. The university is reviewing its policies and practices to ensure we continue to meet the needs of all our students. Our priority is student success, and we are committed to supporting our students so they can thrive.”