The KO-ED KIDS
by LINDA STEIER // I
|T's a more genuine living situation. People are a lot friendlier." That was how junior Libby Berendes summed up her impressions of coed living in Blanding I. And although Libby claimed these were her sentiments alone, her thoughts and feelings were being echoed by most residents in the co-ed dorm.
Co-ed housing for Blanding I was passed by the Board of Trustees December 13, 1972 to be run on an experimental basis for one year. At the completion of that year, the Committee on Evaluating Co-educational Housing and Visitation would study and evalute the dorm, and then make a decision to determine whether co-ed housing will continue at UK.
Co-ed housing, it seemed, had been successful. The residents were permitted 30 hours a week visitation privileges for those who lived in other dorms. Open visitation within the dorm extended from 10 am to midnight during the week and until 2 am on weekends.
The Blanding I residents, christened the Ko-ed Kids, were generally content with the atmosphere of the dorm. As Walt McGhee, a 22 year-old political science major, said, "It's freer; people are friendlier, and it's just a lot better atmosphere altogether. It really is more close-knit than most dorms."
The students contended that brother-sister relationships existed in the dorm. Janie Stewart, history senior, remarked co-ed living combated loneliness. "It creates social awareness and enables both males and females to participate in a non-romantic atmosphere. It gives you an opportunity to meet a wider variety of people because you come in contact with people you wouldn't ordinarily encounter."
The unity existing among the residents was a significant indicator of the success of co-ed housing.
Students often ate meals together, celebrated birthdays together, helped one another with homework, and often times visited each others rooms. The residents also purchased T-shirts labled 'Ko-ed Kids'.
Jaye Benjamin, metalurgical en-
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