Beginning the fall semester of 2025, the College of William and Mary will offer special interest LGBTQ+ housing. The housing will be called the “Lavender House” and will be one of six living-learning communities at the College, including existing language houses.
The community will be located in Maple Hall, a building within the new West Woods 1 complex, starting fall 2025. Student Assembly members, along with teaching professor of History Jay Watkins III worked to implement this new inclusive space and living community.
The Lavender House will be the College’s first LGBTQ+ housing and will consist of co-curricular, co-residential opportunities for students living in the hall, according to the College’s housing website. Unlike the other living-learning communities, Lavender House will not have a credit-bearing class associated with it. Instead, more informal events will be hosted by Watkins, who will serve as the house’s faculty advisor.
Watkins, who conducts thematic research in the areas of LGBTQ+, Southern Culture, Theatre and Popular Culture at the College, discusses his role in the planned community.
“We decided to have it much more casual, not a class with assigned readings, but just kind of over the course of the year getting together some lectures, some kind of outside speakers, talking about some readings, film nights, that sort of thing,” Watkins said. “So the casual kind of informational things give us a lot more space than kind of strict for credit classes.”
According to Watkins, changes to the curriculum in the future are up to the students involved to decide what works best for them.
“If the kind of students that live in it for the first year of it think the four-credit class would be better, then we will add that,” Watkins said. “Ultimately, it’s driven by the people who live there and what they want and need. I’m just showing up to help with the sort of logistical processes.”
SA Sen. Matt Swenson ’26 and Class of 2026 President Zoe Wang ’25 M.P.P. ’26, who spearheaded the Lavender House initiative, commented on their outlook on its future.
“We are very hopeful that the Lavender House will create a lasting impact on the William & Mary community!,” they wrote in an email to The Flat Hat. “The Lavender House has the potential not only to create an inclusive, welcoming mini-community, but also to nourish important, rich conversations about queerness, especially at a time in our country when queer and trans people are vulnerable to disrespect and marginalization.”
Watkins similarly felt encouraged by Swenson’s and Wang’s efforts.
“I think there is a space for it, and I think there is value in being able to live with an informal community within living spaces with similar shared interests,” Watkins said. “I think that the living-learning community model and the social interest housing model are really good. The other houses have been continuing for a while, so I think there will always be a need for it. Will it grow? I don’t know. I certainly don’t foresee any institutional blockages.”
Wang commented on her motivation to pursue this project.
“When Matt and I first ran for Student Assembly our freshman year, a student talked to us about housing issues that transgender students were facing. After we got elected, we made sure to address their concerns and met with Residence Life to discuss ways to support LGBTQ+ students and bolster access to comfortable living situations. From those conversations, we determined two feasible action items: hold roommate search events, and create a special interest housing community,” Wang wrote.
The two members of Student Assembly Senate mentioned that the Lavender House initiative has been in the works for a while.
“As freshmen elected to Student Assembly two and a half years ago, we began this project with Harriet Kandell, Director of Residence Life, and this year, we were fortunate to have Carsten, Student Assembly’s undersecretary for LGBTQ+ affairs, join us as we got it through the finish line,” Swenson said. “There were some hurdles along the way, but we’re excited that it’s finally coming together.”
Watkins explained that since the house is run by the College, he sees a longstanding future. It will not face the common problem of student leadership turnover.
“I think having the kind of permanency of a living-learning community that’s tied to housing might actually help some of the transience that affects every student group,” Watkins said. “Groups go through periods of folks stepping in, and folks not, and then folks graduating, and that sort of thing. It is a known kind of phenomenon.”
Watkins congratulated the SA members who implemented this initiative, mentioning that they are the real driving force behind its success.
“They’ve been very intentional about kind of creating this as a very inclusive space and have been very intentional in how they’re designing it and how they are reaching out and advertising in the application and all of that,” Watkins said. “So they’ve done a phenomenal job and I kind of feel like I’ve just stepped at the last minute. So really all of the credit goes to them in designing this really intentional space. And so I think for that it will continue because it is so well designed from the beginning.”
Swenson and Wang offered a final comment on the Lavender House and their efforts.
“We hope that no matter where a student is at William & Mary, they experience a safe, inclusive, and supportive culture,” they said. “This project opens the door for students to experience that culture in a new, more deliberate, and intimate way.”