UNLV is trying something new this semester in the name of inclusion, and it's working better than anyone had hoped. School officials say an LGBTQ-friendly residence hall on campus has been so popular it has a waiting list.

For the first time in UNLV’s history, students living in the residence halls for the 2017-2018 fall semester had the option to sign up for a LGBTQ-themed floor. Named Stonewall Suites after the Stonewall Riots of 1969, the hall was the brainchild of resident assistant Sawyer Spackman, who spent last semester working up a proposal, with help from Residential Life Coordinator Andrew Lignelli. The floor is UNLV’s first gender-inclusive living environment, meaning those residents “may have roommates of a different gender than themselves,” Lignelli says. All 36 residencies are currently filled—another first for UNLV’s special-interest housing halls—and there’s currently a waiting list in case rooms become available. Lignelli says having Stonewall as an option has been especially positive for non-binary and trans students. “Housing placements can cause a lot of stress, so for these students it’s a positive place where they can be their authentic selves.”