SAN DIEGO, CA, April 13, 2009 – This Saturday, April 18, Campus Pride hosts its second annual West Coast LGBT-Friendly College Fair at the San Diego LGBT Community Center, 3909 Centre Street in San Diego, CA. Nearly thirty colleges and universities from across the country will be in attendance from 1 p.m.to 4 p.m. to recruit lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT) and ally prospective students. Free of charge, any interested students and their families are welcome.

"Finally, colleges are coming out of the closet and being visible in the recruitment process to seek LGBT students,” said Shane Windmeyer, Executive Director of Campus Pride, the leading national nonprofit for LGBT students and campus groups and author of The Advocate College Guide for LGBT Students. “Today campuses want to be considered LGBT-friendly. It is not only in the best interest of enrolment figures but also a necessity to prepare for a smaller, more diverse student population in the future.”

According to Windmeyer, an increasing number of colleges and universities are openly recruiting LGBT students and are doing so for the first time ever. Nearly thirty colleges have registered to date for the upcoming LGBT-friendly college fair sponsored by Campus Pride. In addition, over 185 colleges and universities are reaching out to LGBT students through the LGBT-Friendly Campus Climate Index (http://www.campusclimateindex.org). The national index, the only resource of its kind, is a dynamic online tool which rates LGBT-friendliness at colleges and universities as well as sets a national benchmark for campuses to become safer, more welcoming for LGBT and ally people. Any campus may take part in the college fair program or the index at anytime.

Campus Pride developed the college fairs and the online LGBT-Friendly Campus Climate Index as active ways for campuses to be out and proud in attracting LGBT student populations. The efforts also provide an outlet for campuses to increase enrollment with a seemingly "untapped" population.

Colleges and universities registered to be in attendance include Alliant International University; Arizona State University; Bryant University; California State Polytechnic University, Pomona; Claremont McKenna College; Columbia College Chicago; Drexel University; Emory College (of Emory University); Gustavus Adolphus College; Kalamazoo College; Linfield College; McNally Smith College of Music; Penn State University; Princeton Univeristy; Point Foundation; Rochester Institute of Technology; San Diego State University; Sarah Lawrence College; UC San Diego; University of Colorado at Boulder; University of the Pacific; University of Utah; Washington and Lee University; Whittier College and Yale.

Organizing partners and supporters for the upcoming fair include national and local chapters of the Western Association for College Admissions Counseling, the Gay, Lesbian, & Straight Education Network (GLSEN), Parents, Families, Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG), the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) and Point Foundation. For more details, please visit http://www.campusclimateindex.org/events or contact Campus Pride at 704-277-6710 or info@campuspride.org.

Believe In -- Campus Pride is the leading national nonprofit organization 501(c)(3) for student leaders and campus organizations working to create safer, more LGBT-friendly colleges and universities. It exists to give "voice and action" in building future LGBT and ally leaders. More info online at www.campuspride.org.