Residence Life is offering a new special living option for Penn State students who are interested in promoting social justice on campus.

Members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender community and its allies (LGBTA) will be able to live on the Martin Luther King Jr. (MLK) floor in Beaver Hall in the Pollock residence area next fall.

The idea to combine the two communities was a collaborative effort of the Undergraduate Student Government (USG), Residence Life and the LGBTA student resource center, said Allison Subasic, the center's associate director of student development.

By combining the MLK floor, which is currently open to anyone interested in King's goals, with an LGBTA floor, Subasic said she hopes to promote social justice and provide a safe environment where students can live and learn.

"It's open to anyone who wants to focus on social justice issues," she added.

Subasic, who started a similar program while working at the University of California at Davis, said LGBTA students worry about coming out to their roommates. Living on such a floor may alleviate worries, she added.

Subasic said she does not feel the new floor will isolate the two groups from other groups on campus.

"They don't break barriers; they're living and learning," she said. "Most of the students are already active leaders that will serve to off-set isolation."

Alison Cummings, Student Affairs' associate director of assessment and first year, said she was approached by USG's LGBTA Affairs Director Jamie Ziegenfuss about developing a special living option for the LGBTA community.

Cummings said she and Ziegenfuss wanted to create a floor "within a philosophy of social justice," and the MLK floor became the favored choice.

She said the Office of Residence Life examined next fall's housing requests and determined there were 45 to 50 spaces available after considering the number of returning residents.

The floor's purpose is to create a safe environment in which residents of different backgrounds can come together and promote awareness, she added.

"Anyone that is an ally to those communities can be on the floor," she said.

Cummings said the floor will focus on similarities instead of differences among the groups to strengthen diversity.

"It's serving to strengthen their philosophy and awareness," Cummings said.

Ziegenfuss said that after becoming an LGBTA leader in USG, he saw Penn State lacked a dorm floor for an LGBTA-safe environment. He added that the floor will have an executive board with a floor president, vice president and secretary, along with student involvement to make floor decisions.

Residents will learn and live together and bring those values to the campus by getting involved on campus, he added.

Subasic said the floor will have educational programs similar to the ones that already exist on the MLK floor and will also be involved in MLK Week and Pride Week, a celebration of the LGBTA community.

The name of the floor will stay the same next year, because it is listed in the housing contract under that name. But in the future, Subasic and Cummings said the name could be changed based on the residents' decisions. "Unity Floor" was discussed as a possible name.

Kristin Kreisher (junior-criminal justice) said she thought the new living option was a good idea but felt some students of other organizations would inquire about having special living options as well.

Jessica Siford (junior-mechanical engineering) said she supported the new living option.

"It will probably help them meet new people who have same interests," she said.

Students interested in the new living option have until March 5 to request it and are asked to go to www.hfs.psu.edu/contract to change their living preferences.

--Collegian Staff Writer Kristen Mezzino contributed to this report.