I know people who expressed significant preferences in their Frosh housing roommate, and were granted them. In the portion for "Anything else we should know?" my cousin explicitly requested a roommate who was Christian, and she was paired with someone else who explicitly requested a Christian. Though, over time, I could see the housing people frowning upon this and creating a guideline to avoid such accommodations.
As for CT Card's example of the roommates "Rock" and "Roll" -- when I was a student, there was a triple and three Frosh named "Faith," "Hope," and "Charity," were randomly matched together. =)
I think the scandal for Duke is not that people can choose roommates (people at commuter schools fend for themselves entirely), but that there was a special policy for athletes that did not apply to the rest of the students.
Although the lacrosse team was criminally acquitted in the rape/sexual assault , a lot of abhorrent (but not criminal) behaviors came came to light, and I have to think that the more you treat athletes differently and give them a privileged status, the more likely they will be to behave in a privileged way on campus.
As for CT Card's example of the roommates "Rock" and "Roll" -- when I was a student, there was a triple and three Frosh named "Faith," "Hope," and "Charity," were randomly matched together. =)
I think the scandal for Duke is not that people can choose roommates (people at commuter schools fend for themselves entirely), but that there was a special policy for athletes that did not apply to the rest of the students.
Although the lacrosse team was criminally acquitted in the rape/sexual assault , a lot of abhorrent (but not criminal) behaviors came came to light, and I have to think that the more you treat athletes differently and give them a privileged status, the more likely they will be to behave in a privileged way on campus.