Rutgers New Brunswick's Communal Bathrooms

Rutgers University–New Brunswick provides students with a variety of housing options across its five campuses. Each offers a distinct living experience, ranging from large, lively residence halls to smaller, more intimate houses. Most first-year students will live in a community with a shared bathroom on the floor where they will reside. This shared bathroom is cleaned regularly and hand soap and toilet paper are provided. Students living in suite-style housing and apartment-style housing are responsible for cleaning their bathrooms and supplying their own toiletries. Some residence halls, such as Allen Hall and Brett Hall, offer communal bathrooms. Rutgers also offers gender-neutral bathrooms, which are single-stall restrooms that can be accessed by anyone, providing a comfortable and safe option for all residents and guests.

Residence halls with communal bathrooms

Rutgers University–New Brunswick provides students with a variety of housing options across its five campuses. Each offers a distinct living experience, ranging from large, lively residence halls to smaller, more intimate houses.

Most first-year students will live in a community with a shared bathroom on their floor. This shared bathroom is cleaned regularly and hand soap and toilet paper are provided. Students living in suite-style housing and apartment-style housing are responsible for cleaning their bathrooms and supplying their own toiletries.

• Allen Hall: Offers single and double occupancy rooms with communal bathrooms. Features WiFi, cable TV, air conditioning, vending machines, laundry facilities, a main lounge, and floor lounges. Allen Hall houses the Douglass-DIMACS Computer Science living-learning community.
• Brett Hall: Offers single and double occupancy rooms with communal bathrooms. Features include WiFi, cable TV, air conditioning, vending machines, a laundry facility, a building main lounge, a study lounge, floor lounges, a communal kitchen, and an elevator.
• Demarest Hall: Offers single and double occupancy rooms. Features include WiFi, cable TV, air conditioning, vending machines, a reading room, a laundry facility, a free expression room, a main lounge, and a communal kitchen. Demarest Hall houses multiple separate interest sections.
• Frelinghuysen Hall: Offers single and double occupancy rooms. Features include WiFi, cable TV, air conditioning, vending machines, a laundry facility, floor lounges, a main lounge, a study lounge, a community kitchen, and an elevator.
• Hardenbergh Hall: Offers single and double occupancy rooms. Features include WiFi, cable TV, air conditioning, vending machines, a main lounge, a study lounge, floor lounges, a communal kitchen, and an elevator.
• Hegeman Hall: Offers single and double occupancy rooms. Features include WiFi, cable TV, air conditioning, vending machines, a laundry facility, a main lounge, and floor lounges.
• Leupp Hall: Offers single and double occupancy rooms. Features include WiFi, cable TV, air conditioning, vending machines, a laundry facility, a main lounge, and floor lounges.
• Mattia Hall: Offers single and double occupancy rooms. Features include WiFi, cable TV, air conditioning, vending machines, a main lounge, and a study lounge.
• Metzger Hall: Offers single and double occupancy rooms. Features include WiFi, cable TV, air conditioning, vending machines, a main lounge, a study lounge, and floor lounges.
• New Gibbons Hall: Offers single and double occupancy rooms. Features include WiFi, cable TV, vending machines, a laundry facility, a courtyard, practice rooms, a main lounge, and a study lounge. New Gibbons Hall houses the living-learning communities.
• Pell Hall: Offers single and double occupancy rooms. Features include WiFi, cable TV, air conditioning, vending machines, a laundry facility, a main lounge, and floor lounges. Pell Hall houses multiple living- learning communities.
• Perry Hall: Offers single and double occupancy rooms. Features include WiFi, cable TV, air conditioning, vending machines, a laundry facility, a main lounge, a study lounge, and a community kitchen.
• Quad I: Offers single and double occupancy rooms. Features include WiFi, cable TV, air conditioning, vending machines, a media room, a laundry facility, a main lounge, a study lounge, a house lounge, and a communal kitchen.
• Quad II: Offers single and double occupancy rooms. Features include WiFi, cable TV, air conditioning, vending machines, a media room, a laundry facility, a main lounge, a study lounge, and a communal kitchen.
• Quad III: Offers single and double occupancy rooms. Features include WiFi, cable TV, air conditioning, vending machines, a coffee house, a laundry facility, a main lounge, a study lounge, a coffee house lounge, and a communal kitchen.
• Tinsley Hall: Offers single and double occupancy bedrooms. Features include WiFi, cable TV, air conditioning, vending machines, a laundry facility, a main lounge, a study lounge, floor lounges, a community kitchen, and an elevator.
• Woodbury Bunting-Cobb Hall: Offers single and double occupancy rooms. Features include WiFi, cable TV, vending machines, a laundry facility, a main lounge, a study lounge, floor lounges, and a communal kitchen.

Gender-neutral bathrooms

Rutgers University–New Brunswick provides gender-neutral housing options for its students. The program was created in response to requests from the LGBTQ community to create accepting living environments. Gender-neutral bathrooms are secured for use only by those living in the community and include latchable shower doors for additional privacy.

Students can also take advantage of gender-inclusive living communities such as New Gibbons (Douglass Campus) and Demarest Hall (College Avenue). In New Gibbons, students must join the special interest community, Rainbow Perspectives, to utilize the gender-neutral housing. In Demarest Hall, students must register for a special interest housing community and list the name of a roommate of any gender. Students who opt to share a room with someone of a different gender will still have the option of using a gender-specific restroom. No one will be required to live in a gender-neutral room or to use a gender-neutral restroom.

A Rutgers University–New Brunswick study found that gender-neutral restrooms make women, African Americans, and Latinos feel safer and more welcome. The study examined the responses of three groups of people who formed impressions of an organization based on a set of images displaying the interior and layout of the organization’s office. All three groups answered a series of questions about how comfortable they might feel working there. The results showed that the actions an organization takes to make a particular group feel safer can transfer to other disadvantaged employees.

Residence hall options

Rutgers University–New Brunswick provides students with a variety of housing options across its five campuses. Each campus offers a distinct living experience, ranging from large, lively residence halls to smaller, more intimate houses.

Busch Campus

Busch Campus is a suburban campus with many first-year students and special living options for students interested in science and engineering. It offers easy access to the Werblin Recreation Center, the Rutgers football stadium, intramural fields, and class and lab space for the Schools of Engineering and Pharmacy. Busch is home to traditional first-year residence halls, suite-style living, and apartments for both undergraduate and graduate students. Residence halls include:

• Davidson Hall D
• Buell Apartments
• Crosby Suites
• Judson Suites
• McCormick Suites
• Morrow Suites
• Thomas Suites
• Winkler Suites
• B.E.S.T Hall
• Richardson Apartments

College Avenue Campus

College Avenue is the most urban campus, located close to downtown New Brunswick and student-centred shopping and dining. Residence halls include:

• Clothier Hall
• Leupp Hall
• Hegeman Hall
• Tinsley Hall
• New Gibbons Hall
• Quad I, II, and III
• University Center at Easton Avenue

Cook/Douglass Campus

Cook Campus is home to the School of Environmental and Biological Sciences, the RU-Cool Center for Ocean Observing Leadership, and the Rutgers Gardens. Traditional residence halls are spread across Cook’s wooded acres and green fields. Cook also houses upper-class and graduate students in garden-style apartments. Residence halls include:

• Henderson Apartments
• Woodbury Bunting-Cobb Hall
• Katzenbach Hall
• Allen Hall
• Barr Hall
• Brett Hall
• Campbell Hall
• Demarest Hall
• Frelinghuysen Hall
• Hardenbergh Hall
• Jameson Hall
• Lippincott Hall
• Mattia Hall
• Mettler Hall
• Metzger Hall
• Nicholls Hall
• Old Gibbons Hall
• Pell Hall
• Perry Hall
• Quad II
• Sojourner Truth Apartments

Livingston Campus

Livingston is a suburban and rapidly growing campus with many modern amenities and brand-new spaces for hanging out with friends. Residence halls include:

• Lynton South Tower
• Livingston Apartments
• Silvers Apartments
• Starkey Apartments
• Marvin Apartments
• Johnson Apartments

Housing application process

Rutgers University–New Brunswick provides students with a variety of housing options across its five campuses. Each campus offers a distinct living experience, ranging from large, lively residence halls to smaller, more intimate houses.

Incoming students are directed by Admissions to fill out their housing application via the MyRutgers portal. A housing deposit of $200 is required at the time the application is submitted. This is a non-refundable fee. However, for students remaining in housing through their spring semester, it will be credited to their term bill in January.

The spring housing priority application deadline is January 4, 2023. Assignments will be communicated no later than early January 2023.

Students can change anything on their application as many times as they want before June 30. Changing information does not affect the application submission date used when making room assignments.

Assignments for first-year and transfer students are released during the first week of August. Students receive an email directing them to a website to view their assignment and roommate information.

Living Options

Students submit their lifestyle preferences when filling out the housing application. These factors are used to match appropriate roommates. First-year students can only request to room with other first-year students.

There are over forty different on-campus communities for students of all academic backgrounds and special interests. There are also gender-neutral housing options.

Dining Options

Rutgers Dining Services is the third-largest student dining operation in the country. Every student with a meal plan receives a complimentary reusable bag and bottle as part of Dining Services' efforts to "feed people, not landfills."

Meal plans are “block plans,” meaning that you decide in advance the number of meals you think you’ll need for the semester. Plans are available for students living on or off-campus.

You can use the Rutgers ID card as a university debit card with RU Express, which allows you to purchase meals at both on-campus and off-campus locations, with online ordering available.

Amenities provided in shared bathrooms

Rutgers University-New Brunswick provides students with a variety of housing options, including communal bathrooms. These shared bathrooms are cleaned regularly and are supplied with toilet paper and hand soap.

When it comes to amenities, shared bathrooms in Rutgers' residence halls offer a range of features to ensure a pleasant experience for students. Here are some of the amenities provided:

• Regular Cleaning: The university ensures that the shared bathrooms are cleaned regularly, maintaining a high standard of hygiene and cleanliness.
• Toilet Paper: Toilet paper is provided in the shared bathrooms, so students don't need to worry about bringing their own.
• Hand Soap: In addition to toilet paper, hand soap is also supplied in the bathrooms, promoting proper hand hygiene among residents.
• Multiple Stalls: The shared bathrooms typically have multiple stalls, including toilets and shower facilities, to accommodate multiple users at the same time.
• Privacy: While the bathrooms are communal, privacy is still maintained. Each stall has a lockable door to ensure students can use the facilities privately and comfortably.
• Proximity: The shared bathrooms are conveniently located near the student rooms, making them easily accessible, especially in cases of urgency.
• Gender-Neutral Options: Rutgers also offers gender-neutral bathrooms, providing an inclusive and comfortable option for all residents and guests.

These amenities in the shared bathrooms contribute to a positive and convenient living experience for students at Rutgers University-New Brunswick.

Frequently asked questions