Columbia University has green-lighted a new gender-blind student housing program for upperclass undergraduate students, according to the Columbia Spectator. The program, which will be made available in six residence halls, will allow students of opposite genders to live in doubles — single rooms in which two students reside. Roughly 50 other U.S. colleges and universities have adopted the housing option, including Stanford, Cornell, Dartmouth and two separate University of California campuses. Sean Udell, the Columbia College Student Council 2011 class president said is something “the vast majority of students [are] interested in,” and noted that the introduction of gender-blind housing would be a “controlled rollout.” The program will begin during the spring housing lottery, according to school officials, which applies to the academic year 2011-2012. [Columbia Spectator]