WE THANK Mr Chen Dewei for sharing his concerns about our plan to introduce open housing as an option on our new campus ("Co-ed cohabitation endangers chastity"; yesterday).
The decision to introduce open housing as an option on our new campus was based on general student feedback seeking more diverse housing options.
The open housing policy will not apply to first-year students, who will continue to have their housing assigned to them.
Students in their second or third year are free to select their suite-mates, and may choose to live in suites and floors with or without open housing.
At present, less than 5 per cent of our students have opted for open housing.
While students may share the same suite in a mixed-gender suite, every student is assigned his or her own room to reside in within the suite. Students do not share rooms.
Students can continue to opt for single-sex floors and suites.
We encourage students to maintain an open dialogue with their families about their rooming options.
Students are also able to reach out to faculty and staff members, such as their vice-rectors or dean's fellow, for advice about room arrangements.
Yale-NUS College is committed to providing a safe and welcoming environment that enables our students to interact freely as they build a community in which living and learning intertwine.
Each residential college in our new campus will have facilities that encourage community building, an integral theme for Yale-NUS.
Faculty members and their families will also live alongside our students to help foster the development of the residential community environment.
To facilitate meaningful learning and diverse interactions in a collegiate atmosphere, it is important that our students have a wide range of housing options to cater to their different needs.
Thus, students can choose from single-sex floors, single-sex suites and open housing suites.
Similarly, other NUS University Town colleges also have mixed-gender floors and single-sex floors.
The offer of a rooming option should not be confused with the endorsement of specific lifestyles.
Providing our students with the opportunity to make choices for themselves is a component of the living and learning model we are building.
The college has a thriving culture of open discussion and debate, and respect for diversity.
Considerate sharing, learning and exchange of ideas are an important part of the education at Yale-NUS College.
Tan Tai Yong (Professor)
Executive Vice-President (Academic Affairs)
Yale-NUS College
