Forgotten Book: "Gwing"?

So I read a book about a human who attends some sort of space academy full of many different species. He is assigned roommates, but one of them never seems to be there. When he asks what's happened to this roommate, it is explained to him that the being is a "Gwing" (which is in quotes because not only can I not remember the title or author of the book, but I can't remember the exact name of this species either, but I think it was something like Gwing) - a species that evolved from creatures similar to bats. Members of this species normally sleep together in groups. This is not just a custom or a habit but actually is a very important factor in maintaining their mental wellbeing. A solitary Gwing would eventually go crazy and possibly even die. So the roommate isn't sleeping in their assigned room because they are sleeping in the room of another Gwing student. This is honestly a very small detail in the book, I don't think it affects the plot much at all, but it is the detail I remember and I would really really really like to know what book it is from because I like to talk about the Gwing as a metaphor for how I feel at times or when I want to discuss the unacknowledged importance of physical touch in relation to actual human health.

Hi and welcome to Librarything! You'll probably find the answer you seek in our Name That Book! group, where they specialize in finding lost titles:
https://www.librarything.com/groups/namethatbook

Please be sure to read the group's header for instructions on posting your request, and click the Post New Topic directly below this header.

>2 gilroy: "Welcome to LibraryThing"? ;)

Admittedly to gilroy someone who's been here for 11 years may seem like a newcomer, but yeah, it's always good to check someone's profile before posting a welcome message.

ok, I'll head over and ask there. I only asked here because I noticed the post about "forgotten book toilets" (I made sure to include a colon after the word "book" in my post title, but it really made my morning to imagine toilets designed for the disposal of forgotten books. I got a great laugh out of it, conceptualizing different sorts of sewer systems that might go with them and so on.)

>5 unicoherent: Now I'm curious. Let us know what it was, if you find out.

I've been trying to remember if there were aliens in the David Feintuch series that started with Midshipman's Hope...

>3 anglemark: >4 lorax: It was early, I'd not had my tea, and I have a preset template.

>7 iansales: only at the end of the book

>8 gilroy: No tea? You have all my sympathy! However, I thought you were perhaps being sarcastic. :)

>8 gilroy: Thank you for your untiring service with the template, even if it was probably not needed this time. ^_^