While walking through the second-floor hallway you may have noticed a new feature that was not there before: a gender-neutral bathroom has been built and is now open for use.
Uni Director Dr. Elizabeth Majerus led the project and ensured its completion.
“ I started that project pretty much as soon as I came onto this job,” Majerus assumed the role of Director in August 2021,“ I just thought we needed something, I thought we needed a bathroom for people of all genders and I wanted to get that.”
However, she faced several obstacles when it came to getting this bathroom built.
“We identified a space on the third floor, which seemed like it would be great,” Majerus said. “But when the University of Illinois Facilities and Services people came and started digging around, they found things that they didn’t know about that would be deal breakers. So that was two summers ago. It takes a while to get a project off the ground.”
But thankfully, despite the setbacks, they finally completed the project this summer.
As to how this project was funded, Majerus said, “Well, we have operation funds and, you know, we do building improvements all the time. So, the money is there, it’s just a question of investment.”
As some upperclassmen may remember, in the 2021-2022 school year there was a student protest for “Gender Neutral Bathrooms Now” with posters being placed throughout the Uni bathrooms.
Though the project was already in motion, this protest acted as a kind of motivator for Majerus.
“It felt like a boost because it was like ‘hey, this is important’…I’m glad the energy’s there for it, and, you know, at the time I was like, ‘wait till these students see our new bathroom soon.’”
Regarding the status of the remaining bathrooms, Majerus claims that they are labeled as follows:
- First Floor: Women’s Plus and Men’s Plus
- Second Floor: Women’s and All-Gender
- Third Floor: Men’s
