Scottish Rite Dormitory


The Scottish Rite Dormitory is a private women's dorm for the University of Texas built and operated by the Scottish rite of Freemasons in Austin, Texas. Located just north of campus on 27th Street and Whitis Avenue, the colonial revival style building was completed in 1922 during a housing shortage on campus and was intended to provide housing for the daughters and relatives of Master Masons.
Since its origin the building has relaxed its entry requirements somewhat, but is still well known among UT students for its strict rules against male visitors. It is one of the more expensive private dorms in the UT area. Many girls are wait-listed for entry to the dorm beginning in high school or earlier.
The building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1998.

Controversy

In November 2018, dormitory director Mary Mazurek and registrar Meshelle Bourne asked student Kaj Baker to meet with them to discuss guest rules. Baker was told she was no longer allowed to bring in guests for the rest of the semester after spending nights studying with her girlfriend in the SRD lounge. Baker claims Mazurek and Bourne took action because some of the residents in the dorm were not comfortable with Baker's sexual orientation despite no rule violations.
Scottish Rite Dorm released the following statement regarding the incident:
“The Scottish Rite Dorm is aware of the serious issues raised by our resident, Kaj Baker. We are fully investigating what happened, and also contacting Kaj to address her situation directly, which we regret not doing as soon as we learned of her broader concerns. Pending the outcome of our investigation, we are committed to taking the steps needed to ensure all of our residents are safe, welcomed and supported— including sensitivity training for all staff and residents and clarifying SRD’s visitor policy.”