<p>Do you think that the affirmative vote in North Carolina to create an amendment that establishes marriage as only between a man and a woman may effect applications to colleges in North Carolina?</p>
<p>Note that the vote also prohibits same-sex civil unions and domestic partnership arrangements.</p>
<p>Presumably, it would mainly be students who are:</p>
<ul>
<li>out of state, especially from a more LGB-friendly state</li>
<li>LGB or concerned about the subject politically</li>
<li>know about the vote</li>
<li>want to avoid NC in principle, or out of perception that it is LGB-unfriendly (i.e. the vote has more of a symbolic effect than a practical effect, since college students coming from out of state are less likely to be of the age of getting married or entering into long term civil unions or domestic partnerships)</li>
</ul>
<p>that would be deterred from applying to NC schools.</p>
<p>This gay North Carolinian is bitterly disappointed in his state. Nevertheless, I attended college in-state and would do so again if given the choice. </p>
<p>Although it’s small comfort, it’s worth pointing out that a majority of people in the counties/areas with major colleges - Asheville, Boone, Charlotte, the Triangle, etc. - voted against the amendment. Durham and Orange/Chapel Hill were particularly against the amendment, with ~70% and ~80% voting against it, respectively.</p>
<p>Keep in mind that NC is one of 30 states that have outlawed gay marriage, and 11 more prohibit same-sex marriage by statute. There are only six states right now that allow same-sex marriage.</p>
<p>So if your question is, are those other 44 states hurting in college applications because they’ve outlawed same-sex marriages, my guess is no.</p>
<p>However, one could argue that the NC law goes further than that of many other states, in prohibiting recognition of same sex civil unions and domestic partnerships.</p>
<p>Still, the number of students who would change their application or matriculation decisions is likely to be small.</p>
<p>As a junior looking to apply, I can say that yeah, I do take it into account, and some of my friends have as well. We are from a particularly liberal region of California, so we may be outliers, but none of us are really fans of homophobia in general. Yes, other states have done the same, but NC took their law a bit further. </p>
<p>I mean, I’ll still apply to Duke and UCH-CH and I definitely won’t mak it a super high priority, but if all other factors are even, it could be a slight tipping point, however stupid of a reason it may appear to be.</p>
<p>I would think the athletic scandals of fake grades and fake classes for football players would have more of an impact than the amendment vote.</p>
<p>
18 other states already have laws very similar to NC’s, banning same-sex marriage plus any other kind of same-sex union. In fact, this is the most common constitutional amendment concerning same-sex unions in the U.S.; fewer states simply ban same-sex marriage.</p>
<p>My hunch is that the amendment won’t have much impact on college admissions. As a gay student, I considered the general climate of the campus and surrounding area long before state politics.</p>
<p>I don’t think it should have any effect. California as a liberal state passed prop 8 and I don’t think it had any effect. NC certainly has large company - it’s not even close to the first state to pass such a law and was the last holdout in the south. As warblersrule said above, the areas around the schools in NC are typically more liberal. Campus culture and the immediate vicinity is of more importance to prospective students than the political leanings of the public for the rest of the state. Here is an interesting graphic:</p>
<p><a href=“http://i.imgur.com/eNmDi.jpg[/url]”>http://i.imgur.com/eNmDi.jpg</a></p>
![http://i.imgur.com/eNmDi.jpg[/url]](http://i.imgur.com/eNmDi.jpg%5B/url%5D){kind=link}
<p>I guess Wake Forest didn’t make the graphic though. Incidentally, Duke announced that the passage of Amendment One will have no effect whatsoever on the benefits they give to same sex couples, which they started in 1994 and was one of the first employers to do so.</p>
<p>Should have no effect. The prop lost in most of the college towns – even in parts of western NC like Watauga County, the home of Appalachian State.</p>
<p>Almost all top universities (with the only exceptions really being Notre Dame and MAYBE Boston College) are liberal. </p>
<p>UNC and Duke are certainly no exception. I agree with the above posters that you should consider the area around the college more than the state itself. </p>
<p>For example, Texas is conservative, but UT is very open-minded and accepting. Texas A&M…not so much.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>I’m not sure about your use of the word “even,” because the defeat of the amendment in Watauga and Buncombe (Home of Asheville, Liberal capital of the Southeast) was very predictable. </p>
<p>But yes, the votes against were concentrated in those two counties, Charlotte, and in the Chapel Hill-Raleigh-Durham area. The biggest defeat was Wake County, where you’ll find Raleigh and NC State. It was also nearly defeated in Guilford (Home of UNCG, Guilford College, and others) and New Hanover (Home of UNCW). All either significant college towns or just large urban centers. </p>
<p>I’m really disappointed in the results. At least I’m going to college in Watauga County, where it was defeated.</p>
<p>I think the crowd who are saying “No big deal because many other states already have similar laws” are putting their heads in the sand. Public opinion is shifting very rapidly on this issue, and the generational divide is enormous. Young people favor gay marriage by overwhelming majorities, and overall public opinion is now slightly favorable, a sea change from where things stood just a few years ago. Certainly some young people will be indifferent, and others, even some LGBT people, will say it doesn’t matter as long as the campus and college town offer a safe and welcoming environment. But I know a lot of kids my daughters’ ages–LGBT kids as well as their straight friends–who are saying it really is a big deal which communities (and this necessarily means states, because for most purposes there’s no local option on this question) afford LGBT people full civil rights, i.e., full equal treatment under the law, including the right to marry, with all the rights and benefits that confers.</p>
<p>I don’t think there will be an immediate discernible effect on college admissions, but I do think over the next few years states are going to sort themselves into those that are gay-friendly and those that aren’t, and North Carolina has made a pretty strong statement that it’s lining up in the not-gay-friendly camp, at exactly the moment that has become the minority position in America, and a consensus “loser” position among young people. For a state that wants to position itself as attractive to young, educated, professional and creative types, that’s the wrong side of the line to be on–and the wrong side of history–and I do think over time North Carolina will pay a heavy price for it.</p>
<p>
Huge cuts to public education at all levels, art subsidies, and now hostility to people who are LGBT or in civil unions, has already shown the current government doesn’t give a rat’s a about being attractive to anyone but religious extremists and bigots. </p>
<p>I only hope that once the years of court battles start (the wording of the amendment is so vague and the possible implications on things like domestic violence protection are so broad that it’s inevitable) the people and government of this state will see the error they have made. I’m also still holding out hope that DOMA will be overturned, which would also put an end to Amendment One.</p>
<p>My first instinct when this all happened was to work on a transfer as soon as possible. But other than the cost implications, there’s another important question raised. Is it better to leave when situations of injustice arise, or to stay and fight it? I’m choosing to stay with the hope that I can make some impact. One of my friends at the school I’m going to was one of the lead organizers for the entire ‘Protect NC Families’ campaign. Obviously I had hoped the results would be different, but without the educational efforts of groups like that there probably wouldn’t have been as many votes against. </p>
<p>As for admissions, I know at least two juniors who wanted to go to UNC but are now only considering out of state schools and someone at Wake Forest who is trying to transfer to colleges in New England.</p>
<p>
Certainly I think NC might have trouble attracting people after college. It might - though less likely - even have trouble attracting matriculants. I suspect the effect on the number of applicants will be minimal. Despite the [growing</a> trend](<a href=“http://stuffwhitepeoplelike.com/2008/03/14/88-having-gay-friends/]growing”>http://stuffwhitepeoplelike.com/2008/03/14/88-having-gay-friends/) of support, many people are remarkably apathetic about social causes. That includes many of the yuppies in Charlotte. </p>
<p>I am more interested in the effect of the amendment on UNC and its recruiting practices. Benefits to spouses are a HUGE deal in the faculty recruiting process. If those go, many faculty and staff members will go as well, and UNC will face a hurdle in recruiting top-notch faculty. This has recently been a concern at Michigan as well; same-sex marriages and unions have been banned by the supreme court since 2004, but a law passed in December banned partner benefits to unmarried partners, causing [massive</a> outcry in Ann Arbor](<a href=“http://annarbor.com/news/mass-exodus-university-of-michigan-tries-to-fight-domestic-partner-benefits-ban-as-employees-begin-t/]massive”>Mass exodus? University of Michigan tries to fight domestic partner benefits ban as employees think of looking elsewhere).</p>
<p>Here’s an interesting graphic:</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/interactive/2012/may/08/gay-rights-united-states[/url]”>http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/interactive/2012/may/08/gay-rights-united-states</a></p>
<p>Only about one-third of all states extend protection to housing and the workplace; you can be fired or kicked out of your apartment for being gay in most of the US. Pretty depressing.</p>
<p>
You’re right that same-sex marriage is a big deal to a lot of young people. Unfortunately, most students don’t have the luxury of considering state civil rights when choosing a college. The majority of students stay close to home, and a more vast majority stay in-state for college. All I’m saying is that for me, bigoted state law wasn’t a practical concern in my college choice, and is certainly less so for most students.</p>
<p>Yes, it may have a larger effect on the recruitment of faculty, who are much more likely to encounter the practical effects of the law, as they are more likely than students to be at the stage of life to consider marriage (or civil union or committed domestic partnership) and are more likely to consider their residence in the state as potentially long term (as opposed to four years and good bye).</p>
<p>An NC-resident LGB student may well say “well, I’ll just milk the in-state subsidy at the state school but then move to a more LGB-friendly state after graduation”. A student who actually does that may cost NC the in-state subsidy for his/her education but without providing the (intended by the state) benefits of contributing his/her education and skills to the NC economy.</p>
<p>I dont think it will have any noticeable effect.</p>
<p>The Speaker of the NC House, who supported this amendment, predicted that it will be repealed in twenty years because it’s a generational thing. I agree with him on this, if nothing else. Surveys show that people under thirty support (sometimes strongly support) allowing same-sex marriage. This is true throughout the nation – South, North, West, Midwest.</p>
<p>The NC counties with the most highly educated population, including ones with larger or better-known universities, were the ones that voted against (or 50/50). Orange County, home of UNC, led the way with 79% against. NC State, Duke, Appalachian, UNC-W, UNC-G, UNC-A, UNC-C, Davidson, NC A&T, NCCU, and Guilford are all in anti- or 50/50 counties.</p>
<p>Maybe there are some who will refuse to apply to NC colleges. They can apply to schools in the few states that haven’t written such a provision into their laws or constitution. Personally, though, I don’t think it will hurt college applications at all. Young people know that in another generation these laws and constitutional amendments will start to be repealed all over the country.</p>