Students at the University of Rhode Island have been protesting anti-LGBT campus climate since 12:01 a.m. this morning. Earlier, we posted a press release from the group and Campus Pride's statement of support. The students have sent us some photos from their peaceful protest.

Students stand outside the University Library prior to entering the 24-hour room for their protest

LGBT Student Protest Underway: Campus Pride supports student efforts to increase LGBT safety at University of Rhode Island

Campus Pride cites protest as real life example of findings in the "2010 State of Higher Education for LGBT People" to be released today at U.S. congressional briefing on Capitol Hill

(Washington, D.C. -- Thursday, Sept. 23, 2010) Tonight at 12:01 a.m., University of Rhode Island students began protesting college administrators by engaging in a peaceful, direct action to call attention to the unsafe environment for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) students, faculty and staff on the campus. Read the official press release online at www.CampusPrideBlog.org.

Campus Pride, the nation’s largest non-profit organization working with LGBT and ally college and university students, offers its unwavering support of students’ right to expect safe, welcoming and inclusive learning and campus environments at their institutions of higher education.

“Students, faculty and staff at the University of Rhode Island have every right to demand their university administration fulfill its duties in ensuring safe climates for campus learning, living and working,” said Shane Windmeyer, executive director and founder of Campus Pride. “We stand with University of Rhode Island students, faculty and staff in requesting administrators respond to needs on campus and act decisively to curb anti-LGBT bias incidents, acts of violence.”

“Good Morning, Baltimore.” I arrived yesterday in Baltimore, MD. And I had to make a Hairspray Musical reference at least once. I guess this is the official start to the Campus Pride Fall travel season. Woo Hoo!

Although I am not at a college, I am attending for our first time the National Association of College Admission Counselors Conference (NACAC) hosted this year in Baltimore, MD. The theme of the conference has something to do with “crabs” – so I took a picture of one of the volunteers. Poor thing. All I could think about was Mr. Crabby Patty from the cartoon Sponge Bob Square Pants. She was a good sport and let me take a photo. Thanks!

While this is not a LGBT conference, Campus Pride has invested time and money into doing outreach around our LGBT-Friendly Campus Climate Index (www.campusclimateindex.org). Our goal being at the conference is to make more colleges aware of the Index, our LGBT-friendly college fairs and how to best recruit openly LGBT students to their campus. Campus Pride submitted two workshops to the conference and presented one today, the other one will be tomorrow. The workshop today was in collaboration with our educational partner the Point Foundation (www.pointfoundation.org) --who is simply fabulous. Campus Pride loves working with Point Foundation. Todays workshop will hopefully be one of many more educational efforts we do together in the future.