CMI separates the sexes

Home alone without the male students: Female CMI dormitory students at the Uliga campus. Photo: Hilary Hosia.
Home alone without the male students: Female CMI dormitory students at the Uliga campus. Photo: Hilary Hosia.

For the first time in its history, College of Marshall Islands is separating student residents by placing male students at the Arrak Campus and female students in the main campus in Uliga.

While it’s too early to tell whether the decision is having a positive impact on student performance, which was a main factor for the approach, long time CMI House Mother and Residential Coordinator Bego Alik said she’s seen small but positive changes. She described some of these as girls taking out trash and carrying their own water, tasks often handled by male residents.

For the male student residents, according to Bego, the fact that they have to wake up early in the morning to catch the bus from Arrak guarantees better attendance — there has been numerous times male residents attended class late even though they live on campus.

“But I’m hoping the separation is for everyone’s benefit,” Bego said. “Come check again in two months and see how things went.”

Read more about this in the September 7, 2018 edition of the Marshall Islands Journal.