As the Undergraduate Assembly waits for administrators to deliberate its proposal for same-sex housing, Penn's residential advisers and graduate associates have already begun to consider possible consequences of the suggested housing system.
The new system -- specifically aimed at those in the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community -- would provide an on-campus coeducational housing option for groups of three or more students.
However, according to Gregory College House GA Jessica Nadeau, no issues with LGBT students on her floor have arisen.
"I haven't heard anybody here complain that they don't think it's fair to have to live with straight men if they're a gay man or vice versa," she said.
And, despite the proposal's good intentions, RAs and GAs are wary of the chance it gives heterosexual couples on campus to room together.
College senior Robby Sikka, an RA in Harnwell College House, said that handling an on-floor couple "certainly adds more complexity" to an RA or GA's job.
"If they're in the midst of an intimate relationship and do decide to break up, they can't change their housing," he said. "That's going to be real hard for any RA or GA to deal with."
In addition, Nadeau felt that rooming with a boyfriend or girlfriend on campus could prevent a student from fully maturing.
"It seems to me that college is a time when you shouldn't settle down into a committed relationship," she said. "I don't think that it's entirely healthy for people to move out of their parents' house and immediately start cohabitating with a boyfriend or girlfriend."
And, even for those students who choose not to live with a significant other, there is still a possibility for problems, according to some RAs and GAs.
"Anytime you have [a co-ed] room... there's always potential for disaster," Nadeau said. "There have been studies that say that men and women can't have a friendship together without even the question of sexuality coming up."
DuBois College House GA Renata Clay also pointed to the potential for sexual attraction to blossom between roommates, thus causing a third-wheel effect for the remaining roommate.
And, more importantly, unrequited sexual attraction between roommates could lead to sexual assault, according to Sikka.
"When you look at what's gone on [on Penn's] campus this semester... some of the criminal activity... it really makes you wonder if some of the kids on this campus could even handle co-ed housing," he said.
But some RAs and GAs were also quick to point out the benefits of co-ed housing.
"I think it would just be easier to have men and women be able to choose to live together," Nadeau said. "We have a lot of guy-girl friendships [in Gregory], and the guys and girls tend to get along with each other better than girls and girls."
College junior Ed Youngstrom, an RA in Fisher-Hassenfeld College House, recalled a previous year in which he wanted to live in a suite with several friends -- one of whom happened to be female.
"We might have pursued that if it hadn't been for the current housing rules," he said. "I feel like there should be a place on campus that would welcome people who want to room with someone of the opposite sex."
Overall, Nadeau noted, co-ed housing is a "step toward giving students the opportunity to control their lives a little more."
"I think that Penn students are very sheltered," she said. "The University fosters them to a certain degree. For them to be able to make these kinds of decisions and deal with the consequences -- either good or bad -- I think will be a valuable experience."
According to Sikka, though, it is essential that the new housing system, if implemented, has certain stipulations.
And, although she pointed out that parents may take issue with the idea, Clay said she is in favor of the proposal overall.
"If there are people who are uncomfortable with the current housing system and we can do something about it that's not harmful to the rest of the community, then why shouldn't we do it?" she asked.
