Introduction
Gender neutral bathrooms are an important step towards an inclusive and comfortable campus, not just for transgender students, but for all students. Being trans myself, I really appreciate and respect that there have been efforts to have more gender neutral bathrooms in newer buildings on campus like the ARC and Innovation Hall, but I feel like more can be done. And along with that, some of those gender neutral bathrooms aren’t even that comfortable to use.
It might seem like a small thing, but when you’re on campus all day and you just need to go to the bathroom, having one that you can feel comfortable in instead of singled out and out of place can be really valuable. If you’re uncomfortable, you can’t learn as well, simple as that. Inequity shows itself in many ways, and many of them are subtle- like this. But if every student is treated with the amount of respect they deserve and all of their needs are met, higher education becomes just that more diverse and accessible.
As a transgender student, in particular a nonbinary student, one thing I seriously don’t understand is why transphobes hate gender neutral bathrooms so much. They’re convenient for everyone, and often have more room in them, too. Not even just nonbinary people use them- plenty of binary trans people use them (anyone heard people opening “chip bags” in the men’s restroom?) and even just cis folks who want a larger bathroom to do their business. They’re also super useful for people with babies or infants, typically fairly accessible for those with disabilities, and sometimes you just don’t want to rely on an inch-thick piece of metal with half-inch long gaps at the sides to hide behind when you’re on the toilet, right? But with all the stigma against gender neutrality and ‘wokeness’ has led to a very specific problem for me as a nonbinary person:
It sucks trying to find a place to pee.
Like, sure, there’s the non gender neutral bathrooms, and I could just use the bathroom that’s meant to be for my “assigned sex”, whatever that means, but like, that sucks. And how else am I supposed to keep up my cool gender-neutral mysterious veneer if I walk out of a gendered bathroom like a dweeb? I guess I could just alternate between bathrooms until people get confused, but there’s a much easier option.
And thus, I began my noble quest: to catalogue the bathroom situation in every building on the UW Bothell/Cascadia campus. No bathroom was safe from my observant eye and keen note taking, except for all the ones I definitely missed, because despite my history as an ex-campus tour guide, I don’t go everywhere on campus. And through my tireless determination, I believe that I have found it: the best place for a trans student to pee on campus.
Each bathroom is listed with a rating. This rating has three components:
- Does the building have gender neutral bathrooms?
- How scary or nice is the bathroom?
- How is the interior design of the bathroom?
The first component speaks for itself- is there a gender neutral bathroom available? Even if there is one, I might rate it as not having one either if I haven’t found it yet or if it’s difficult to find or both. Ideally, one should be able to locate a gender neutral bathroom instead of having to go on a wild toilet chase when you have to go to the bathroom. If it’s too out of the way, it gets a lower rating. If I couldn’t find one at all or I don’t know that there is one at all, it gets a lower rating. If it has an easily accessible AND easily found gender neutral bathroom, it gets a higher rating! Gender neutrality won’t get a number score, but rather a qualitative comment.
The second component definitely does not speak for itself, but let me explain. Some bathrooms are scarier than others. For example, is it commonly dimly lit or do the lights automatically turn off? Is the flooring 30+ years old? (Looking at you, UW Seattle.) Does the automatic flusher not work and constantly flush while you’re still on the toilet? All of these things could make a bathroom qualify as scary. On the other hand, a nice bathroom is clean, brightly lit, and never betrays you by flushing early. The nicest of bathrooms, rumored to exist but definitely not on college campuses, might even have tables or chairs or couches. Scariness will be rated on a scale of 0-10, with 0 being extremely scary, and 10 being extremely nice.
The third component somewhat speaks for itself, but I’ll talk over it and explain. The interior design of a bathroom is very important, not just for looks, but for function. For instance, is the stall door higher than your knees? Is the paper towel dispenser directly next to the toilet in a really inconvenient way? Is the stall big enough to get your backpack in there without feeling like you’re playing the world’s worst game of Tetris? All of these contribute to the interior design aspect of bathroom ratings. Interior design will be rated on a scale of 0-10, with 0 being the absolute worst designed, and 10 being absolutely perfect and organized.
Finally, a disclaimer. I am an able-bodied student, so I will not be able to judge the physical accessibility of a bathroom unless it impacts me as an able-bodied student. Additionally, I am a UW Bothell student, so I am less familiar with the Cascadia campus bathrooms, but I did seek them out specifically for this project. Finally, I am not a STEM student, so I use some buildings more than others.
With that out of the way, without further ado, here is my definitely not incomplete*, not biased in the slightest**, and absolutely undebatable*** list of bathroom ratings:
UW Bothell Buildings
Founders Hall (UW1)
Yeah, I bet you never hear it called Founders Hall, right?
Anyways, the bathroom situation in UW1 is fairly simple. There are gender-separated bathrooms on each floor, with each bathroom on either side of the main lobby area in the middle of each floor.
Gender Neutrality: If there’s a gender neutral bathroom in UW1, I have yet to locate it. I typically have a lot of classes in this building, so if there is one, it isn’t easy to find.
Scariness: The bathrooms in UW1 rank a 8 on the scary scale. I find that UW1 bathrooms tend to be very crowded, especially just before and just after class, and the flow of people keeps it less scary. It’s also very brightly lit and mostly white on the inside, which keeps it bright and feeling clean. It doesn’t get a full 10/10 because I find these bathrooms tend to get the dirtiest as a result of their common usage (massive shoutout to the campus custodial team! You’re doing incredibly valuable work here and we love you!) and also because it doesn’t particularly have an air of comfort- just sterile, white efficiency. So to conclude, 8/10.
Interior Design: One thing I really used to enjoy about the bathrooms in this building were the lights above the stalls- you could very easily tell at a glance how full the bathroom was, and how much you might want to pop over to another floor to try another bathroom. However, at least in the ones that I still use, those lights are no longer in use. Sad! Otherwise, the interior design is fairly nice. One thing that I wish it had were paper towels, not just air dryers, because some stuff you need paper towels for- like if you spill a drink or need to blow your nose, you don’t really want to do that with toilet paper. You will find that a lot of bathrooms on campus tend to share this issue. Generally, though, a 6/10 on the interior design scale. Nothing special, nothing too bad.
Final Rating
Overall, the UW1 bathrooms get an overall 14/20. No gender neutrality, but if you’re okay using a gendered bathroom, it’s not a terrible experience.
Commons Hall (UW2)
Somehow different from UW3.
In UW2, I mainly use the restrooms on the first floor, near the Academic Learning Commons (a great campus resource, I am compelled to add, like the ex-tour guide I am!). The UW2 commons are a great place to grab coffee, and the bathrooms are a great place to deal with the fallout.
Gender Neutrality: I have yet to locate gender neutral bathrooms in UW2. Fortunately, this can easily be solved by walking for thirty seconds to Discovery Hall.
Scariness: This bathroom is a little scary. It’s hard to describe, but the vibes are just weird to me, and I’m always a little bit afraid that hanging my backpack on the door hook is going to be heavy enough to tear it off. However, it’s slightly more colorful in there than in the UW1 bathrooms, and doesn’t feel TOO opposing. I’m going to give it a vague 5/10.
Interior Design: This bathroom has a shower in it! Awesome! It wins points just for that, because I think having showers on campus is super awesome. This bathroom also has a bunch of stalls, and isn’t too small. Generally, fairly solid, but not really anything special. 7/10, mostly for the shower.
Final Rating
The UW2 bathrooms get an overall rating of 12/20. Not too bad, not too great, but the fact that they have a shower for students to use is a game changer. While there is no gender neutral option, I stand by what I said earlier that it’s easy enough to go into UW3 to use that one. Speaking of which…
Discovery Hall (UW3)
Nobody calls it UW3. Also, why isn’t it part of UW2?
Of course the STEM students get the best bathrooms. When you first walk into Discovery Hall, basically right next to the lecture hall, there are not only gendered bathrooms but a gender neutral bathroom right next to them! There are also gendered bathrooms on each floor.
Gender Neutrality: There IS a gender neutral option, and it’s even nice and next to the gendered options! It is a single occupancy bathroom, so there are no stalls, but since it’s next to the gendered ones, it’s easy to use the others if you’re in a real hurry. It’s spacious and super easy to find!
Scariness: Honestly, the gendered bathrooms on the first floor are the scariest out of any I’ve found in UW3. They have dark tile, and are ever so slightly squished in, so it feels slightly more opposing on the first floor than the rest. However, the gender neutral bathroom is what I’m rating here, and it’s very nice and not really scary at all. Therefore, a lovely 8/10.
Interior Design: The bathroom has dark tile, so it feels less sterile and stifling than UW1 for instance, but not quite as colorful as UW2. Generally, it is spacious and very easy to find, so ignoring the slightly scary nature of the gendered bathrooms, the gender neutral bathroom will earn a 7/10.
Final Rating
Discovery Hall earns a total score of 15/20! A very good score, and even better because it actually has an easy to find gender neutral option. It would be nice if it had these options on the other floors, but honestly I’m just happy that it’s easy to find. And if you’re in UW2, it’s easy to just walk down the hallway and find this one.
Shared Buildings (UWB + CC)
UWB/CC Campus Library (LB1, LB2, LBA)
Hey, I work here and am totally not biased at all!
There are bathrooms on each floor near the Annex, and some in other spots as well. There are also gender neutral bathrooms on the third floor! There are a few other bathroom options, I typically find the ones on the first floor by the front desk the easiest and most accessible, but do visit the gender neutral ones when I am able.
Gender Neutrality: There are two gender neutral bathrooms on the third floor, if you walk up the stairs and turn left. Regrettably, I find them to often be occupied. Both are single occupancy restrooms, and I have differing opinions on both, which I will elaborate on momentarily. I wish there were gender neutral options on the first floor- because I don’t really want to take the elevator all the way up there just to use the bathroom slightly more comfortably- but I’m happy enough that there are two!
Scariness: The gender neutral bathrooms are only a little bit scary. They look nice, but a lot of the time they tend to be dirty, because they’re used very often. I also find that there tends to be a lot more water and paper towels and stuff in general on the floor than in the other bathrooms, strangely enough. Additionally, the automatic flush tends to go off when I don’t want it to, and I don’t know if this was a fluke or a bathroom ghost or actually an issue with the plumbing- but a few times I’ve had the automatic flusher go off in the bathroom I was in if the bathroom next to it flushed. So, that was pretty weird. Overall, 6/10 on the scary scale. Not terrible, but not the nicest.
Interior Design: I have opinions about this. In the bathroom on the left, closer to the stacks, it is laid out perfectly well and normally. However, in the bathroom on the right, the paper towel dispenser is NEXT TO THE TOILET. You heard that right, if you sit down you’re going to trigger the motion sensor and it’s going to spit out paper towels at you. It feels cramped and crowded, and I try to avoid this bathroom in favor of the one on the left if possible. If we put the two of them together, I’m going to have to give this one a 4/10 on interior design.
Final Rating
I might not be as biased as I thought- as the campus library gains a 10/20 for its gender neutral bathrooms. I love that we have them, but they’re very out of the way, and there are some flaws in them that make them more difficult to use than easier.
Innovation Hall (INV)
I’m not a STEM student, don’t look at me.
I’ve only used this building’s bathrooms a few times, but generally I have a great impression of them. Not only are there gender neutral bathrooms, but they are very open, have lovely windows, and have floor to ceiling stall doors! I was going to try out the non gender neutral bathrooms I found on the first floor, but both were occupied. This rating will be based on the bathrooms on the top floor.
Gender Neutrality: Amazing! Perfect! Fantastic! Easy to find, easy to use, and no discomfort involved. Probably up in my favorite gender neutral options on campus.
Scariness: I have some mixed feelings here. Usually, the bathroom isn’t scary at all. However, if you’re like me and used to go into Innovation Hall at 8:30 in the morning because your roommate dropped you off because they have an 8:45 and you have work at 9 but nothing to do until then, then you might experience what I experienced- namely, the lights being off and it being a bit scary in there. It also feels a little gray and sterile. However, generally, when it’s daytime and not 8:30 in the morning during the winter, it’s not very scary and it’s pretty nice- so a good 8/10.
Interior Design: Gorgeous! Amazing! Beautiful! I adore the floor to ceiling stall doors, and it feels spacious and roomy in there. Like I mentioned before it’s a little bit gray, but all of Innovation is a little bit gray, so I guess it kinda works. 9/10!
Final Rating
Innovation Hall is so far taking the lead with a 17/20! Really really nice gender neutral bathroom, 10/10 can recommend if you’re in the area.
Activities & Recreation Center (ARC)
I miss the food trucks. Anyone else remember the food trucks?
The ARC has a lovely bathroom situation- with sets of both gendered bathrooms as well as a single-occupant gender neutral bathroom on every floor. When I started this project I thought that was all there was- but I discovered a secret bathroom on the lowest level…
Gender Neutrality: Gender neutral bathrooms on EVERY floor. Absolute perfection. And on the lowest level, there’s even more than one! I didn’t look too closely into the locker rooms because there were people in there, but I’m pretty sure I saw a gender neutral option there- though correct me if I’m wrong.
Scariness: The gender neutral bathrooms on floors 1 and 2 aren’t very scary. They’re very stark white, which I don’t like as much, and sort of tucked in a corner, but generally fairly nice besides being hidden. Now, as for the secret bathroom- I never realized this existed, and I literally used to give campus tours. For some reason, I never realized that there was a gender neutral bathroom in the landing lobby of the lowest level? Like, where the walls are blue- it looks like it’s a storage closet or something you’re not allowed to go into, but it’s totally a bathroom. And not only that- but the tile is a gorgeous teal blue, as opposed to the stark white of the other bathrooms. Infinitely confusing, absolutely delightful. 8/10.
Interior Design: Pretty decent- all of the gender neutral options are easily accessible, single-occupant, disability friendly restrooms. They have air dryers instead of paper towels (boo!) but generally are well laid out, and well-placed in the building. It’s nothing incredible, but I don’t have much to complain about. 7/10.
Final Rating
The ARC, which I think takes the cake for the building with the most gender neutral bathrooms in it on campus, earns an honorable 15/20. I appreciate the variety and amount of options, especially in a building focused around events and student community.
Cascadia College Buildings
CC1
I can’t find building names for these…
As I am not a Cascadia student, I went out of my way to visit the restroom and check it out. I could be wrong, and please do correct me in the comments if I am, but I found a gender neutral bathroom in CC2 and not in CC1. If you know otherwise, or if I have completely screwed up what building I was in, please let me know!
Gender Neutrality: I only found gendered bathrooms in CC1, but CC2 is basically right there, so you can just kinda… walk over there…
Scariness: Not very scary! It’s brightly lit and slightly more colorful than the bright white UW1 bathrooms, but it does look kind of like a mirror of those UW1 bathrooms. They look pretty much identical, except for a few small things… but as for scariness, I’m gonna give it a decent 7/10.
Interior Design: This bathroom has paper towel dispensers instead of air dryers, which honestly, I really like. I might be an Environmental Studies major, but I feel like air dryers aren’t really the leading combatant against climate change, and as mentioned earlier, sometimes you need paper towels for stuff. They do have signs telling you to not take as many paper towels, which I do appreciate. Generally, solid bathroom contents, a nice 7/10.
Final Rating
CC1’s gendered bathrooms earn a respectable 14/20. Nothing too special but nothing terrible.
CC2
I continue to not know if this building actually has a name…
I was informed of this bathroom’s existence by my lovely coworker, who advised that there WAS in fact a gender neutral bathroom in this building, but that it was difficult to find. I had to go through the main entrance and take a turn and walk for a while, but I did manage to find it!
Gender Neutrality: It could be easier to find, but it isn’t too bad. It could certainly be advertised a bit more, because when you first walk in it looks like your only option is the gendered bathrooms.
Scariness: This bathroom feels very strange. First of all, it has a sign saying it’s a single occupancy bathroom, but on the inside it has two stalls, one standard and one accessible. The sign says to lock the exterior door behind you, but I was confused upon entering by the appearance of stalls, and did not lock the outside door, because nobody’s going to walk in on me if I’m inside a stall, right? Because that’s how bathrooms work? Apparently, wrong. After I left the bathroom, someone stopped me and kindly let me know to lock the door next time. I was very confused and asked why it was necessary if there were stalls, and it was insisted upon that I would be walked in on if I did not lock the outside door. Despite being locked inside a stall like any normal bathroom. I am still very confused about this. I will lock it next time, but I still kind of don’t see why it’s a single occupancy bathroom if it has two stalls and two toilets. If you actually wanted it to be an accessible, one occupancy bathroom, wouldn’t you want no stalls and just one accessible toilet…? Many such questions. Maybe it’s just a me problem, but it’s a me rating, so I can say what I want. Therefore, a 2/10 for directions that make no sense.
Interior Design: There’s a massive panel on the wall that looks like something was removed from it, and the door to the accessible stall swings out and essentially blocks the way to the sink. Not… very accessible. A continually confusing 5/10.
Final Rating
7/20 for CC2’s gender neutral bathroom is disappointing. I’m still kind of confused about the single occupancy thing. Honestly, I would prefer the much simpler and easier to find gendered bathrooms over this gender neutral bathroom if I was in this building.
Global Learning and the Arts (CC3)
I just learned that it’s actually not called Mobius Hall, Mobius Hall is just inside of it. Huh…
CC3 is on the other side of the main path through campus from CC2 and CC1, and as far as my knowledge extends, does not contain a gender neutral bathroom that I was able to find. It does have binary bathrooms on each floor. For the purposes of this review, I used the gendered bathrooms on the first floor, close to Mobius Hall.
Gender Neutrality: Doesn’t have any, as far as I know- please correct me if I’m wrong! But as far as I could tell, gendered is the only option. Of course, you could go across the way to the scary gender neutral bathroom in the other Cascadia building, but it’s a lot less convenient.
Scariness: Not very scary, actually! The bathroom had people in it and near it, and while the lights were softer than some other bathrooms, it was well-lit and not too intimidating. It had a slight air of apprehension to it, being tucked away sort of in a corner, and it wasn’t particularly on an angelic scale of niceness, but not bad at all. A lovely 7/10.
Interior Design: Very nice. The colors are lovely, more muted browns, and the stall doors not only have handles but open outwards, which is great. It does have air dryers instead of paper towels, with a blurb about being eco-friendly, which I respect, I do just wish there were more paper towels available on campus. It felt slightly cramped, but generally fairly nice- another 7/10.
Final Rating
CC3 has a solid bathroom, at 14/20! It would be significantly improved if there was a gender neutral option, of course, but as it is, the gendered bathroom I tried was pretty nice.
“Off-Campus” UWB Buildings
Except for the Beardslee Building. Oops! Some brave soul can rate it in the comments below.
Terrace Dining Pavilion
The cell service in this building is terrible. Get on the public residential life wifi if you can.
The Terrace Dining Pavilion, the first of the fairly new housing buildings on this list, contains a lovely set of gender neutral bathrooms on the lower level, just behind Food Lab.
Gender Neutrality: Great! The gender neutral bathroom is in fact the only public bathroom in this building, and it’s easy to find.
Scariness: The stalls each have their own light, and sometimes those lights are off when you open a stall door, giving the toilet a sort of dark and haunted aura. However, usually the lights kick on when they notice motion, so hopefully you don’t have to use them in the dark, because that would suck. Other than the light, pretty nice at a 7/10!
Interior Design: Lovely. Floor to ceiling stall doors, a wide range of sinks, and sometimes the sinks even have soap dispensers. (I think I’ve seen it missing once or twice.) The color palette is somewhat black and white, but it looks nice and clean and overall very well put together at a 9/10.
Final Rating
Terrace Dining gets a 16/20 for its gender neutral bathrooms! Definitely worth checking out if you ever wander in that direction.
Husky Hall (HH)
Does anyone even go here anymore?
Husky Hall has two sets of bathrooms, one public-facing and one secret one for employees. I worked in this building for a few months before Admissions moved to Summit Hall, so I’ve seen the secret bathroom and will attempt to recount what I remember of it, but this rating will be based on the public bathrooms near the lobby. Most people don’t go to Husky Hall anymore unless they need Commuter Services or if they serve on a media board like Clamor (hey, I did that too! Yippee! Go to the launch party in June!), but it’s still good to keep in mind.
Gender Neutrality: As far as I know, no gender neutrality in this building. I’m pretty sure the back staff bathrooms are gendered too. This makes sense, considering I’m pretty sure I heard that Husky Hall used to be a retirement home.
Scariness: I am familiar with the strange scent of microwaved pizza and generally kind of slightly funky vibe of Husky Hall, but I know it might strike others as odd. Besides that, the bathrooms are sterile white, fairly clean, and have paper towels instead of air dryers, which is nice. They are, however, fairly small. But since not many people use Husky Hall, this isn’t usually an issue. Accounting for how scary the rest of Husky Hall is, a solid 6/10.
Interior Design: Pretty small as stated before, but I find nothing else particularly wrong about them. The stalls are a decent size, and the doors are as annoyingly tall as most other campus bathrooms, but generally they’re fairly average besides the paper towels, which I like. That said, the secret back staff bathrooms are much larger, and if I remember correctly, have a shower, which is great! However, not many students will ever get to go back there, especially since there’s so much less activity in this building. Overall, 6/10.
Final Rating
Husky Hall manages to not be overly terrible, while not completely great. A 12/20 is what it gains for its trouble- just barely above average, because I know that there’s worse. If you can get past the funky pizza smell.
Summit Hall (VSMT)
Lower level, not the dorms. That’s next.
Summit Hall, newly opened a few years ago, is home to a bunch of administrative stuff. If you’re a newer student, you may have gone here to take a tour, get your Husky Card, or talk to the registrar’s office or financial aid. Also, I used to work here!
Gender Neutrality: There is a gender neutral bathroom downstairs in this building! However, I don’t know how much they get used by the public, as they are sort of down a hallway by administrative offices. Upstairs, which is what most people use and what I usually used, they are gendered bathrooms.
Scariness: The gender neutral bathrooms aren’t really very scary, and neither are the gendered ones. Being a new building, the scariness potential is significantly decreased. They’re both fairly white and sterile, and kept very clean. 8/10.
Interior Design: The gendered bathrooms have floor to ceiling stall doors, which is amazing. The gender neutral bathrooms are single-occupancy, but there’s more than one in total. My main qualm is that for people working upstairs, it’s a massive pain to get down to the gender neutral bathrooms because you have to take the elevator (as the stairs will lock you in). Therefore, myself and many of the admissions counselors (some of which are also nonbinary) basically just had to use the upstairs gendered bathrooms, as it was much easier, quicker, and less likely to get us in any trouble for dawdling. I personally pretty much exclusively used the gendered bathrooms, as it was easier to go across the room than downstairs. I also didn’t like singling myself out by having to go all the way downstairs to use the bathroom, like my cisgender coworkers did not. Inclusivity is important, and it can feel really awkward to have to go out of my way to feel comfortable in a way that others don’t. I just wish that it was all gender neutral, as it had been downstairs. Other than that, these bathrooms have paper towels instead of air dryers, which gives it some points. 6/10.
Final Rating
Summit Hall (not the dorm part) gets a solid 14/20. Most students will never need to use these bathrooms, but if you ever need to replace your Husky Card or talk to a student service desk, consider trying them out.
BONUS!
The Dorms (Summit, Forest, Horizon)
Yeah, all three! Super fast!
Having run tours, I also ran tours of the dorm showrooms. I only lived on campus when Husky Village was still a thing, and the only expertise I try to claim is having been a tour guide. These will be the bathrooms of each dorm room, not of any common spaces, because I don’t know if there are any. If you live on campus and have found any common space bathrooms in any of the three dorm buildings, feel free to rate them in the comments!
Gender Neutrality: Each dorm or suite or apartment has its own separate bathroom. So the gender neutrality is probably up for debate by roommates, but if you selected gender neutral housing, bam, you’ve got yourself a DIY gender neutral bathroom.
Scariness: In Horizon and Summit Hall, the bathrooms are pretty nice. Each dorm has its own, and the apartments also have fairly normal and nice bathrooms, and they all have sinks outside- which is great if your roommate is taking forever in the shower and you just need to brush your teeth or whatever. Forest Hall, I’m more dubious about. The Forest Hall showroom is for four people, with two rooms and two people per room. It SAYS it has two bathrooms- but one of the bathrooms is JUST a toilet, and the other bathroom is JUST a bathtub. It looks pretty comical having a bathroom with JUST a toilet in it. The sinks are still outside, which I like, but I don’t get why they don’t have two toilets if the apartments in Horizon do… maybe something to do with plumbing? Still, bizarre. 9/10 for Horizon and Summit, 5/10 for Forest.
Interior Design: I’m still stuck on the single toilet thing. They’re nice enough bathrooms, I like the sinks being outside, but I can’t get over the fairly large bathroom completely bare save for a single toilet. 9/10 for Horizon and Summit, 0/10 for Forest.
Final Rating
Horizon and Summit get respectable ratings of 18/20, and Forest gets 5/20. If they’ve somehow rectified this strange toilet issue in the non-showrooms, please let me know in the comments. I’ve never been in a non-showroom, so I would love for residents to give me their opinions on the Great Dorm Toilet Debate.
Conclusion
Let’s answer the question- what are the best and worst bathrooms, according to me and me alone?
The medal for Bathroom I Liked the Least will go to the poor old CC2 gender neutral bathroom. I love that there’s a gender neutral option, but there’s confusing signage, terrible interior design, and it’s not easy to find.
The medal for Bathroom I Liked the Second Most will go to the Terrace Dining Pavilion. It’s nice, it’s gender neutral, it’s easy to find, and it’s comfortable. It doesn’t get the first place medal because I feel like it’s just a little scary, but it’s a solid option and it’s great if you’re getting food.
Finally, without further ado, the medal for Bathroom I Liked the Most will go to…
Innovation Hall third floor gender neutral bathroom!
Cue applause. Yes, this bathroom takes the cake, with a fresh, new design, floor to ceiling stalls, and being fairly clean and accessible. It’s spacious, has tons of stalls, and meets the needs of its students. All gender neutral bathrooms on campus should take notes from this one. I can highly recommend it, even as someone who doesn’t frequent Innovation Hall very much. They did a great job on that one.
I hope that this set of rankings is helpful not only to other trans students, but to all students at UWB. Gender neutral bathrooms benefit everyone, and while this article is fairly silly, it’s an important topic to consider when we talk about how everyone can feel like they belong on campus. It’s a small thing to do, with a huge impact.
Final Rankings
Here are the final rankings out of 20, in order! I have not included the dorms, as they’re more of a bonus feature for those curious. This goes in order of best to worst.
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Innovation Hall (INV) – 17/20
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Terrace Dining Pavilion – 16/20
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Activities & Recreation Center (ARC) – 15/20
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Discovery Hall (UW3) – 15/20
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Summit Hall (VSMT) – 14/20
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Founder’s Hall (UW1) – 14/20
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Global Learning and the Arts (CC3) – 14/20
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Cascadia 1 (CC1) – 14/20
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Common’s Hall (UW2) – 12/20
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Husky Hall (HH) – 12/20
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Campus Library (LB1) – 10/20
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Cascadia 2 (CC2) – 7/20
*I’m 100% sure I missed a few bathrooms. Sorry!
**I use some bathrooms more than others and may have gotten attached to some more than others. Sorry!
***Please feel free to disagree with me in the comments, but please do it very nicely.
All photos taken by Roswell Sass!