Welcome...

Hello all Campus Pride peeps! In all it's fabulousness, this week's edition of Queer it Up Friday!...

• HOT LIST! Sue Rankin, Ph.D., Speaker/Lecturer
• It's not too late! Register for Camp Pride!
• HBCU LGBT summit places Spelman at top
• How your campus can support ENDA and other anti-discrimination initiatives
• Let us feature your campus!

Check out this week's great features after the jump...

HOT LIST! Sue Rankin, Ph.D., Speaker/Lecturer

As an Associate Professor in Education Policy Studies and Research Associate in the Center for the Study of Higher Education, Dr. Rankin has constructed an understanding of student affairs within the broader context of higher education.

She has worked closely with students, staff, faculty, and administrators on dozens of college campuses to assess campus climate and to create strategic actions for equity and community. Examples of her work include consultations with public and private higher education institutions in Pennsylvania, New York, Oregon, Minnesota, and North Dakota; state agencies in Pennsylvania; and non-profit organizations across the United States.

Dr. Rankin is also the author of Campus Pride's "The 2010 State of Higher Education for LGBT People," a landmark, one-of-a-kind study/survey of more than 6,000 LGBT faculty, staff and students from across the nation.

Learn more about Sue at www.lgbtcampus.org/consultants/SueRankin.php.

It's not too late! Register for Camp Pride!

It's not too late to get in on all the hot, summery action that is Camp Pride, Campus Pride's Annual Summer Leadership Camp. Our Happy Camper discount -- $100 off regular registration -- ends on May 25th, so head on over to our Camp Pride website and register today!

This year's camp will be held at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tenn. July 19-24. Our Happy Camper registration rate of $795 ($895 after May 25) includes all lodging for five nights, breakfast, lunch and dinner each day as well as all educational program materials and entertainment.

Learn more about Camp Pride at www.campuspride.org/camppride/.

HBCU LGBT summit places Spelman at top

Spelman University recently hosted the Audrey Lourde Historically Black College and University Summit, which, according to Chronicle of Higher Education writer Marybeth Gasman, "focused on LGBT issues within African-American and HBCU communities" and was "supported and embraced by Spelman’s president Beverly Daniel Tatum and was attended by representatives from HBCU’s across the nation."

Gasman writes: "Although an event like this might be commonplace at many (certainly not all) majority institutions, it is not the norm at HBCU’s. Black colleges and universities have been slow to address the issues of LGBT students, including the homophobia that exists on campus."

Read more about Gasman's thoughts on the summit:
http://chronicle.com/blogs/innovations/spelman-is-out-in-front-on-lgbt-issues/29425

How your campus can support ENDA and other anti-discrimination initiatives

Most people might think a majority of colleges and universities are progressive and already have LGBT-inclusive policies or practices. The reality is much different. A minority -- yes, a minority -- of institutions of higher education in the United States have policies that protect students, faculty or staff from discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity in employment or educational opportunities.

Perhaps you are a student at one of these institutions. And, you're asking yourself how you might be able to go about getting the ball rolling on amendments to your campus' policies. Here are some quick and easy tips:

1. If you have an LGBT student organization, work with student leaders there and across campus. Create a coalition of student groups and leaders who will push together -- perhaps through a petition of their members -- to lobby school administrators on the policy changes.
2. Approach your student government and gain their support. Work through your student government's legislative processes to bring a resolution supporting LGBT-inclusive policy changes to your student government assembly. Present the resolution to university administrators.
3. If your campus doesn't have an LGBT student organization, consider starting one. Chat about the idea with staff members in your Office of Student Life. Or, perhaps, team up with a progressive student organization (a feminists' group, for example) and try forming an LGBT student group as an off-shoot of theirs. Having the support of groups already up-and-running can be a benefit to a new and fledgling organization just now getting its feet wet.

But, perhaps, you are a student at a college or university that already has great policies and practices in place. You might be asking yourself how you can get your college to speak out on LGBT issues and take a more active role in leading change. One student at Princeton, Andrew Blumenfeld, recently shared with Campus Pride how he was able to rally students around the still-pending Employment Non-Discrimination Act in Congress.

He writes:

I am the President and co-founder of Princeton's LGBT activism group, the Princeton Equality Project. Our group successfully petitioned a ballot initiative in the most recent undergraduate elections that posed the following question to students:

 
"On behalf of the undergraduate Princeton community, the USG will call upon the Board of Trustees to act in accordance with its mission of preparing the next generation of leaders in the workforce, and to officially endorse the federal Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) which will ensure all students- regardless of sexual orientation and/or gender identity- are free from discrimination in their careers."

After many weeks of campaigning this referendum passed with a tremendous showing-- about 83% of voters said "yes."

We are currently waiting to hear from the Board of Trustees and applying more pressure by amassing signatures of faculty/staff to urge the Board to take this referendum seriously.

Having an inclusive and safe space on campus is great -- but like so many other components of college, learning how to make a difference and impact in the wider world around us is important. Taking steps like Princeton Equality Project's push to support national LGBT-inclusive legislation is a great way to engage your LGBT and straight ally peers in actions the benefit not only your own campus but students and citizens across the country!

Let us feature your campus!

Do you have stories, experiences, tips or tricks like Rachel and Tommy? We want to feature student leaders, campus organizations and other student-led and -initiated efforts! We want to praise your successes and examine your challenges. Profiling them here gives other students the opportunity to learn from your mistakes as well as your achievements. All-in-all, we can help each other make better campuses and communities for LGBTQ people! If your student-led campus or community group has something to share, shoot an email off to matt@campuspride.org.

Want more? Check out our past Queer It Up! coverage.