Catholic University President John Garvey says that the Northeast D.C. school will return to having same-sex dormitories.

Continue reading

The change will begin with this fall's incoming freshman class.

Garvey says the chance is being initiated to cut down on binge drinking and "casual hookups" on campus.

The switch will be incremental in each of the campuses 11 residence halls. Freshman dorms will be separated by gender starting in 2011 and, the year after, the change will be implemented in sophomore halls.

This is Garvey's first year at Catholic.

Garvey wrote about the change in an op-ed piece in Tuesday’s Wall Street Journal, saying, "one simple step colleges can take to reduce both binge drinking and hooking up: Go back to single-sex residences."

Some students don’t think it will work.

“I don't think it would really slow down anything,” said one student. ”It's college so they're going to do what they want to do whether they live with the guy they're hooking up with above them or in the building next door."

These days more than 90 percent of college housing is co-ed.

The new policy comes at a time when other local colleges are moving toward more liberal housing policies, such as co-ed room. But Catholic University believes this is the best decision for a school rooted in conservative values.