Illinois college first U.S. institution of higher education to ask students specifically about sexual orientation and gender identity on college admissions form

(Charlotte, NC) – Campus Pride, a national non-profit working to create safer, more LGBT-inclusive colleges and build future LGBT and ally leaders, is praising the decision by administrators at Elmhurst College in Elmhurst, Ill., to specifically include a question about students’ sexual orientation and gender identity in their college admissions application.

Elmhurst College, a private four-year liberal arts college, is the first U.S. institution of higher education to ask a demographic question about identity on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity on a college admission form. Their decision reflects a conscious choice by administrators at the college to actively include lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) students in the broader life of the college and its campus.

“The move by Elmhurst administrators to include this question represents a distinct and unique paradigm shift in higher education to actively recognize out LGBT youth populations and to exercise greater responsibility for LGBT student safety,” said Shane Windmeyer, Campus Pride executive director. “For the first time, an American college has taken efforts to identify their LGBT students from the very first moment those students have official contact with them. This is definite progress in the right direction -- and deserves praise.”

National LGBT-Friendly College Fair to be held Oct. 2 in coordination with Pride Charlotte, in partnership with Time Out Youth and Lesbian & Gay Community Center of Charlotte

(Charlotte, N.C.) – Campus Pride is pleased to announce the historic first stop in its 2010-11 LGBT-Friendly College Fair, a program now in its fourth year connecting LGBT students and their parents to LGBT-friendly colleges and universities across the country.

Campus Pride, a national non-profit working to create safer, more LGBT-inclusive colleges and build future LGBT and ally leaders, will hold its first 2010-11 LGBT-Friendly College Fair in Charlotte, N.C., on Oct. 2, Noon -3:30 p.m., at The NC Music Factory. The event, held in collaboration with the annual Pride Charlotte festival, Time Out Youth and the Lesbian & Gay Community Center of Charlotte, marks the first time the College Fair program has visited the Southeastern U.S. and the first time it will be held in conjunction with a Pride festival.

“Our LGBT-Friendly College Fair’s event in Charlotte presents a unique opportunity for Carolinas and Southeastern students, families and universities,” said Shane Windmeyer, executive director of Campus Pride. “Prospective students want to attend campuses that are a welcoming and safe place to learn, live and grow. Our Fair’s presence in the Southeast will help students there find LGBT-friendly colleges from across the country.”

Last year, Campus Pride made a commitment to grow attendance at the Fair by partnering strategically with local LGBT and ally youth organizations as well as hosting in more progressive metropolitan “queer meccas” of LGBT activism – New York, Los Angles and Boston. That commitment continues this year with the Fair’s first stop in Charlotte and a later stop in Portland, Ore., on Oct. 16.

Windmeyer encourages greater Charlotte, the Carolinas and Southeastern college and university officials to attend the Fair, and said, “There is indeed LGBT progress in Charlotte, the Carolinas and the southeastern United States. Our LGBT-friendly national college fair program showcases campuses who want to recruit out LGBT & ally students. It sends a clear message: ‘Gay students are welcome, even celebrated on this campus.’”

Free and open to the public, the Campus Pride’s LGBT-Friendly College Fairs allow any student and their family the opportunity to interact with colleges and universities that value LGBT and ally people. Registration for schools is $195 to $250 per fair for each institution and is open to any college or university across the United States. Each fair will also feature expert advice about LGBT-friendly colleges, scholarship resources and even effective tips for campus visits.

Campus Pride’s 2010-2011 LGBT-Friendly National College Fair Program will visit: Charlotte (Oct. 2), Portland (Oct. 16), New York (Nov. 5), Boston (Nov. 6), Los Angeles (April 9). More details on each event, which are free to current or prospective students, can be found at www.campusclimateindex.org/events.

In addition to this year’s LGBT-Friendly College Fair program, Campus Pride is proud to announce its forthcoming national LGBT climate research in the report, “State of Higher Education for LGBT People,” in partnership with its Q Research Institute for Higher Education.

Written by Sue Rankin, Ph.D., Dr. Warren J. Blumenfeld, Ed.D., Genevieve N. Weber, Ph.D., LMHC and Somjen Frazer, MS, Ed. and a foreword by George Kuh, Ph.D., “The State of Higher Education for LGBT People” is the most comprehensive national research of its kind to date. The report documents experiences of nearly 6,000 students, faculty, staff and administrators who identify as LGBT at colleges and universities across the United States. Recommendations and findings from the national study provide the means for student activists, campus program planners and policy makers to implement strategic initiatives to address the needs and concerns of their LGBT students and employees. The research will be available in September, with a special webinar slated for Sept. 21 and a national policy briefing at the U.S. Capitol on Sept. 23. For more information, visitwww.campuspride.org/research.

To learn more about Campus Pride programs and services, please visit www.CampusPride.org or email info@campuspride.org.

Photo: Pride Charlotte 2008. Credit: Willamor Media, via Flickr, licensed under Creative Commons.

Campus Pride announced yesterday the dates and locations of our 2010-11 LGBT-Friendly National College Fair Program in tandem with the LGBT-Friendly Campus Climate Index. The only national college fair program of its kind, Campus Pride has expanded to five regional locations and anticipates this year to have record attendance as a result of our youth partnerships and outreach to college campuses.

This year, Campus Pride visits Charlotte, Portland, New York City, Boston and Los Angeles.

Click here to see our full schedule, locations and registration information.

Registration begins online July 15.

NEW YORK TIMES FEATURES CAMPUS PRIDE

How to Find a Gay-Friendly Campus?

CAMPUS PRIDE'S NATIONAL LGBT COLLEGE FAIR PROGRAM

THEY ARE HERE TO RECRUIT YOU
Colleges Reach Out as Never Before
by John Schwartz

READ THE ENTIRE STORY ONLINE
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/18/education/edlife/18guidance-t.html

The scene was similar to one that plays out thousands of times a year in gyms and auditoriums around the country: a college fair. The folding tables, the school banners, the admissions officers with a student representative or two, and the brochures and tchotchkes laid out. The only thing that might have made this one appear out of the ordinary was the preponderance of handouts with rainbow designs, and the fact that the fair was being held at the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Community Center in Greenwich Village. This college fair, and several like it around the country, was devoted to recruiting gay students.

“Actually going out and recruiting a gay student — that’s a very new thing for colleges,” says Shane L. Windmeyer, the co-founder of Campus Pride, a national organization that promotes safe college environments for gay students and sponsored the event.

While Ivy League schools are often represented, the fairs also attract lesser-known institutions like Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis. Scott A. McIntyre, associate director of admissions there, says that his university attends some 500 fairs each year, and that including one for gay students made sense.