A university's first and foremost responsibility is the safety and education of its students. LGBT-inclusion and safety programs and policy implementation are not optional.

The harassment and death of Tyler Clementi, pictured, and Rutgers University's handling of the ensuing controversy serve as prime examples of the need for increased awareness and responsibility by university administrators.

Jury selection in the trial against former Rutgers University student Dharun Ravi, accused of cyber-bullying that ultimately led to the Sept. 22, 2010, suicide of his roommate Tyler Clementi, began on Tuesday, Feb. 21, 2012. As the trial proceeds, the details regarding the relationship between Ravi and Clementi continue to highlight the need for college and university administrations to make their campuses safer and more inclusive for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) students.

"Colleges should take responsibility for their LGBT students," said Shane Windmeyer, executive director of Campus Pride. "At the heart of this issue is the right of LGBT youth and students to be heard and recognized on the important campus safety issues they face at school. Nearly a quarter of LGB students face harassment on campus and this percentage is even greater for our transgender students."

Clementi's death and Rutgers University's handling of the ensuing controversy serve as prime examples of the need for increased awareness and responsibility.

"The mere presence of an LGBT student organization or LGBT-inclusive policies will not make a campus safer for students," said Windmeyer. "Concrete policy and practice implentation is necessary -- constant work that includes listening to and including the voices of LGBT students and taking decisive action to respond to their needs."

Listening and responding to LGBT students takes effort on the part of university admissions, student life and housing professionals, Windmeyer added. Asking optional questions about students' sexual and gender identities on forms for admission, housing and other services is a crucial first step toward ensuring accountability in campus programming and resources. To date, only one U.S. institution of higher education, Illinois' Elmhurst College, has added such questions to their undergraduate admissions forms.

Since Clementi's death, officials at Rutgers University have implemented a "Respect and Civility" program and have created an LGBT student living/learning community -- a program students had been seeking for a number of years before the tragic incident in 2010.

Campus Pride calls on all colleges and universities to take steps to fully include LGBT students on their campuses and to create safer, more welcoming environments where LGBT students may live, learn and grow with respect and dignity. Programs and policy implementation -- such as anti-discrimination policies, safe and inclusive student conduct codes, gender-neutral housing, LGBT living-learning communities, hate-crime and bias-motivated incident response and LGBT-inclusive healthcare -- are not optional.

"A university's first and foremost responsibility is the safety and education of its students," Windmeyer said. "It is imperative that colleges and universities begin to recognize their role in creating safer environments for LGBT students. Tragedies can be averted and lives can be saved when students feel safe and accepted and when universities are proactive in their approach to campus climate."

As part of its continuing commitment to develop necessary resources, programs and services to support LGBT and ally students on college campuses across the United States, Campus Pride offers its national benchmarking and assessment tool, the Campus Climate Index (www.campusclimateindex.org), free-of-charge to college and university administrators seeking to understand the current needs, challenges and opportunities for their campuses.