Yale Introduces Gender-Neutral Restrooms, Other Accommodations For Transgender Students

NEW HAVEN, Conn. (CBSNewYork) -- Visitors to the 315th commencement at Yale University on Monday will notice something new on campus this year – gender neutral restrooms.

As WCBS 880's Stephanie Colombini reported Sunday, the new bathrooms found in 23 of the main campus buildings at Yale are part of a larger effort by the school to better accommodate its transgender students and staff.

Faculty of Arts and Sciences Dean Tamar Gendler said the school has also changed a long-standing rule to allow transgender graduates to use their chosen name on their diplomas instead of their birth name.

The university wants the students "to be able to look back at their Yale diploma as the beginning of the rest of their life and not a backward-looking document," Gendler said.

Transgender students can also change their names on school ID cards, and the Yale health plan also covers gender reassignment surgery.