gay life and acceptance at emory?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Emory University
1

<p>Hey everyone,
I'm a rising high school senior and I live in Michigan. I was basically wondering how gay life is at emory.</p>

<p>A little bit about me, I'm not out to anyone yet (which is why I couldn't inquire about gay life at my campus visit, I was with my parents), and I don't plan on coming out until at least around the end of this school year. The community I live in leans socially conservative, isn't extremely conservative, but I also go to a conservative, ignorant catholic high school where I would not be accepted at all. I wouldn't say that I'm the completely stereotypical gay guy either. I play sports, and plan on playing at least intramurals in college, I'm a sports fan and I hate theater/plays(however I do enjoy pop music lol). I don't dress "gay"(I hate using that stereotypical word), so I don't think people would know I'm gay just by looking. That being said, I'm not a total shocker by any means either, I would say that if people interacted with me for a while they would probably suspect it. Politically, I identify as a moderate. Economically I tend to lean to the right and socially to the left obviously, I have grown up around social conservatives so I'm not scared of them by any means, I just really don't want a majority presence of in my college life. Atlanta is pretty deep south for me, and I know it's a huge city and is liberal, but after growing up in New England and the Midwest I have heard how intolerant the south can be, so I was wondering if you can feel any of that at Emory? </p>

<p>Now, for what I'm looking for. From what I have read online, Atlanta is a very liberal city in a very conservative state and Emory tends to be liberal. I want to be actually accepted, not just tolerated. I don't want to be known simply as a gay guy, I want people to realize that is just a part of who I am. And while I think it's good to have very close knit and powerful LGTB organizations and groups, I don't want to only be friends with other gay people if you know what I mean? I think I probably would join one or two of the groups, but I wouldn't want to be a die-hard member, I want to be in an environment where both straight guys and girls would be open to being friends with me and where I can just be a normal everyday student. </p>

<p>Lastly, I would like there to be an at least somewhat decent amount of other gay people.</p>

<p>I'm looking to study either business or biology(most likely pre-med) if that makes any difference.</p>

<p>So do you think Emory would be a good fit for me, and if you have any personal experience or opinions, could you share it?
Thanks!</p>

2

<p>Yes, Emory is extremely gay friendly and so is Atlanta (seriously, it’s metro ranks about 2-4 in the number of gays). Not many people here really care if you’re gay at all so you’ll be able to make a huge variety of friends (most of my gay friends’ close-knit friends are, overwhelmingly straight). It’s definitely a community that is pretty accepting to it (I would say we’re much better off than at least 2 of the other southern Ivies). The fact that gays have prominent roles in various facets of campus life. In fact, I think that in housing/reslife, lgbt members may actually comprise the majority of the higher-ups (hall directors and the like). You can hardly be known as “that gay guy” at a campus with so many lgbt students. If you want to come to Emory, all I can say is: “Come on in, the water is fine.” I think I came across an article at one point (perhaps AJC or some Atlanta news print or magazine) that said that Emory is so gay friendly/has so many gays that it might as well host Atlanta’s gay pride parade.</p>

<p>Note that Emory is also pre-med and pre-business friendly, perhaps too much so lol.</p>

3

<p>Thanks so much for your detailed response! I’m not really considering too many schools, basically Emory, Duke and Michigan(instate, should be somewhat easy for me to get into, I’ve done chance threads before under another username lol) a few safeties and maybe a few ivies, but probs not. If you know anything about these two schools, especially Duke, how do you think Emory compares? Would Duke be one of the other southern ivies that emory is better off than?</p>

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<p>I think so we’re better off in terms of gay friendliness. One thing not as present here is the so called “jock-culture” that one may see at Vandy (which apparently also has a Greek scene that is somewhat dominant) or Duke. The lack of D-1 sports also tends to recenter the campus’s social scene toward a greater emphasis on multi-culturalism (which thus makes us more liberal leaning than most schools in the south, including Rice, Vandy, and Duke, 2 of which are apparently neutralish/slightly conservative and Duke being a little liberal). Also, I wouldn’t say that Duke or Vandy are particularly accepting or hostile. From my understanding, however, you would be much better off here or at an Ivy or Michigan. If you’re very serious about the gay scene/gay life, I don’t think Duke is good enough, education-wise, that is (something US news can’t really measure, especially at top 20s where SAT averages are 1400ish and higher. At that point, differences in selectivity hardly govern the nature of the learning/academic environment. Duke, for example has SATs essentially matching the top Ivies and is yet much less intellectual than all of them, including lower ranking Ivies and several other top 25s. Same could be said for Berkeley vs. Emory or Berkeley vs. any of it’s peers, public or private with Berkeley being more intellectual in each case of course) to choose it over us or any of your other options for your fields of interest, though that research triangle is nice. However, if you came to Emory (or Mich and any Ivies you’re considering), you wouldn’t really miss it as we’re a giant research powerhouse as well. And most of the facilities are right on or proximal campus (example, CDC). All the schools you are considering probably excel in biological sciences (research and education).</p>

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<p>I highly disagree with your statement that Duke is not “good enough, education-wise”. Emory has been, for years, trying to escape mediocrity as it hides in Duke’s shadow.</p>

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<p>I did not say it was not “good enough”, I said, that given what the OP is looking for, it is not good enough to simply choose it over Emory OR any of his other options due to its rank. Also, there is no proof that Duke is that much better than us for biology or business. We are hardly mediocre in said areas, surely you know this. You can come on and cite ranks, SATs and perhaps prizes won by some students at Duke, but you can’t prove that the experience “within the classroom” is significantly better than Emory. The experience of my friends (some who go there) and I suggest that to be the case. The difference is hardly existent. Among elite schools, with exception of maybe MIT or Caltech, students aren’t learning significantly different things from one school to the next. Also, the rigor doesn’t vary that much. I can provide you concrete examples of where, courses at Emory are very comparable or even tougher than a Duke counterpart despite the large difference in rank (I could literally do it right now but it would be regarding science courses as this is my, and the OP’s interest). I could also show you where intro.and sophomore pre-med oriented sciences courses are much smaller at Emory and some students, especially pre-meds concerned about being weeded out may actually find this as a preference (trust me, it works wonders on the level of interaction between student and teacher and it increases the rigor of the exams because exams are not as tedious to grade when you have 70 as opposed to 175-250 students in your gen. chem or bio course). </p>

<p>Also, I don’t think we measure our mediocrity vs. Duke’s shadow. We are completely different (like a completely different environment) and have our own mission and goals. Also, since when are we “hiding”. That’s really stuck up (to call another elite school mediocre is acting as if Duke or other schools’ stuff doesn’t stink and I can prove that Emory, Duke, and nearly every other top 20 does have problems and areas of mediocrity). That’s the reason I made that comment, because many people at elite schools think too highly of themselves. Hardly none of these schools, as great as they are, provide an “educational experience” worth over freaking 50k! Duke is no exception.</p>

<p>I told the person to choose the place that best caters to their needs as they seem very concerned about gay life. All of the schools are good. And if the person finds that another elite school is a better fit in this area, they should choose it. They can certainly find a better fit than Duke when it comes to gay life. I’d imagine Michigan (very liberal area and institution), Emory and any of the Ivies would provide it (with Ivies and Michigan probably being even better off than Emory which is already pretty good). The person will be very happy and certainly not miss out on an excellent education by choosing any of them. Realize this and get over yourself. </p>

<p>I stand by my statement there. The education it provides isn’t superior. If anything, the experience is viewed as superior. Who could hate a school that has successful D-1 sports+great academics like Stanford and Duke? Like other schools, you have awesome students that do awesome things as well. Needless to say, these things do not contribute to a different “academic/learning” environment (once in the top 20, other things, such as curriculum structure, academic/interdisciplinary initiatives, and mission of the school dictate academic environment. Needless to say, only a few stand out in this arena and many are extremely similar. If I claimed that prize winning students influences it, I would have to say:“Oh, look, the number of fulbright and “X” scholarships earned this year at “Y” prestigious school has suddenly transformed us into an uber intellectual environment. Perhaps the professors will look at this and demand more from us next year”. Won’t happen. In fact, it lowers incentive to do so. Picture the reaction: “But I’m a Goldwater Scholar, I’m to awesome to receive a B, can’t I just turn in the assignment next week?”). One could argue that Chicago or may be preferable to Duke and many other top 20s in this area and it has no such perks (I would argue that we would strive to be more like Chicago than Duke as we have a much more similar environment/atmosphere. Needless to say, academics are indeed different and not quite there at Emory in my opinion. Would be more like it if we had the core like UChicago. We used to, but now it’s gone and our core curriculum looks like every other institution minus Columbia, Brown, MIT, and Caltech :frowning: ).</p>

<p>Hopefully, I made myself clear. If you still feel that Duke or “X” school is somehow a dramatically different world academically than another elite institution, then we’ll have to agree to disagree.</p>

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<p>excuse me, that was to not* be the case. I still remember when I tried to elicit help from my Duke friend (who is awesome at biology by the way) for help on my biology II problem set. He was in an advanced intro. bio course and made it clear that he had no idea what he was looking at because the material differed so much. The same happened with organic chemistry. With such experiences (even if anecdotal) and having seen the work/lectures for some of their classes, I’m not convinced they are better for my fields of interest (chemistry and biology non pre-med). I am primarily concerned about the academic rigor and quality of my experience. And my conclusion is, that we aren’t much different (I could use those two incidences and my research as evidence that Emory is tougher/more suitable, but I’m sure there are classes for which the tables turn. For example, physics and math is much better and more rigorous at Duke). I’ve received a rigorous education, have established great (many close) relationships with my professors, even in the sciences (doing this is so much easier here than at many peers. I think it’s because many science professors here involve themselves deeply in campus life. They don’t just stay in their offices. Just very approachable. Many even know names of every student in a course), while also having done awesome research and having an awesome social life. And I’m not an exception. With that said, I can’t see how Duke would be much different from me or anyone else here taking advantage of the millions of opportunities here. Often these differences are in our head (we look at rankings and stuff, and force ourselves to believe it even w/o doing any further research about the schools in question). Saying things like: “Emory hides in X’s shadows” is such a useless statement based on a surface observation and essentially downplays the human element. It’s about the students’ experiences. Emory students will by and large have a similar academic/educational experience as those at the other peer schools despite differences in rank. I mean seriously, it isn’t the difference between a lower ranked state school and an Ivy, as you frame it. Both have extremely similar students w/lofty goals in life that the respective schools try to aid them in meeting.</p>

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<p>I enjoyed reading that entire response to my one sentence that got you heated beyond belief.</p>

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<p>I’m sorry, but ignorant, dishonest, and loaded, completely unsubstantiated (and no attempt to substantiate them) statements **** me off. If you are going to bash us, name professors, pedagogical differences, and learning experiences that make Duke particularly superior or even different to and from us or anyone other elite. If I somewhat agreed, I would have said fair enough. At least I have some experience, research, and horse mouths (which say that classroom experience is the same. My NU transfer roomie sophomore year said the same of NU. NU was the same rigor and style) on my side. Given that you haven’t even started Duke yet, you obviously don’t have the experience to even begin putting pieces together. At least I’m experienced willing to admit strengths and weaknesses of all schools including the one I attend despite any initial perceptions people tell me to believe. </p>

<p>Anyway, that one sentence reveals how heated you were. It wasn’t necessary. All you needed to do was read my original post properly. I just told it how it was (Duke is only as great academically as every other school in consideration but there are better gay life options), and you completely took it out of context as if I said, Duke=hell or something (though you folks are the bluedevils lol). At least, I can say I attempted address exactly what you said w/some substance and how it didn’t make sense. If you wanted to something respectful, you should have tried to dispell my opinion on their gay life or prove that Duke is so superior to any school (including the Ivies) being considered by the OP, that gay life shouldn’t be a factor. Instead, you made a snarky remark w/no substance. No need for you to respond either, the thread is over. The OP should simply visit the schools and observe the student body diversity vigilantly. That’s the only way they’ll find out for sure.</p>

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<p>Oh, Duke elitism, we meet again. Still, I find it rather funny that Duke students assume such an air of superiority when 95% of them didn’t make it into HYPSM. Almost like they have something to prove.</p>

<p>You probably should drop the attitude, Ballinallday. Your insecurity is showing.</p>

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<p>

Depends on what you’re looking for. I was certainly extremely happy with Duke and have found that it compares favorably with my current school (UCLA) in that respect.</p>

<p>Duke has more institutional support for its LGBT students than any other southern school. From attending conferences with 300+ gay people from all over the South each year, I’ve concluded that Duke is (with the exception of a few small colleges like UNCA and NCF) the most gay-friendly college in the South, something reflected in things like the Advocate College Guide. Its LGB population is also a bit larger than Emory’s. On the other hand, Emory is located in a large metro area, which has its benefits. UNC Chapel Hill has a huge LGBT population, and the Triangle in general is one of the two or three most gay-friendly areas of the South. Nevertheless, you won’t find the same number of gay people in raw numbers that you would in Atlanta. </p>

<p>As for things like “jock-culture” and “Greek scene” influencing LGBT life…not so much. I lived on a hall with several lacrosse players during my junior year. I went to their games in support, and they came to my GSA events. Many of my gay friends rushed frats or sororities, with absolutely no qualms or issues. My friends and I would attend frat parties and bring same-sex dates; it really wasn’t a big deal. One of my closest friends at Duke was a guy heavily involved in leadership of the College Republicans both at Duke and the state level; although we disagreed on a few things, we had quite a lot of respect for one another. That’s the sort of school Duke is - a warm, welcoming environment with generally friendly people.</p>

<p>I’ve written about LGBT life at Duke before, as have others. Here’s a couple of threads worth perusal:</p>

<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/duke-university/1176386-wake-forest-duke-gay-male.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/duke-university/1176386-wake-forest-duke-gay-male.html&lt;/a&gt;
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/duke-university/760501-blue-devils-united-queer-alliance.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/duke-university/760501-blue-devils-united-queer-alliance.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>Be sure to check out the blog - many LGB students have commented more in depth about their experiences with Duke, frat life, career advising and placement, etc.</p>

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<p>Fair enough. I appreciate you approaching it this way instead.<br>
I think that makes sense, but are you sure that Duke has a bigger LGBT community than Emory? It’s pretty big (you may not have seen many at conferences, but… you would at least venture to say that you know it’s very large even if you are indeed right about Duke’s being larger, right?). I don’t know much about the big organizations (I have friends involved in either pride or the regular lgbt office. There are plenty of other orgs. I don’t know as much about), I just know that the scene is pretty big and they generally have huge events catering to them on campus and off. I’m thinking that we haven’t institutionalized (basically it’s less organized as opposed to less existent) it like Duke so you may not have have not met a lot of people from Emory (simply because they aren’t particularly activist just as the rest of the student body) at the conferences (I don’t know if they provide a good enough sample size). They just kind of blend in. </p>

<p>Weird enough, despite having a huge LGBT community, we have had our issues such as the one at the fraternity I believe fall semester where a gay student was dragged from a party (of course they claimed it was because he was causing trouble not that he was gay. I don’t want to rush to judgement, but I think that may be BS). That ticked a lot of people off because generally gays have no such problems on this campus whether in frat life or w/e. And of course a pretty liberal campus makes a huge uproar about this stuff (the only thing worse is the MSA and Jewish Life standoffs that used to take place in Asbury circle. Boy are those tense and extremely awkward). </p>

<p>I think we have a similar LGBT blog. Anyway, yeah, we haven’t institutionalized (is there a need to? Again, they’re pretty much accepted) it as much, and they are certainly trying to make the LGBT office more visible. </p>

<p>I think this presidential commission for example is a relic of the 90s. Not sure though.<br>
[President’s</a> Commission on Sexuality, Gender Diversity, and Queer Equality Home](<a href=“http://www.pcsgdqe.emory.edu/index.html]President’s”>http://www.pcsgdqe.emory.edu/index.html)</p>

<p>Note that our LGBT website is data (Emory doesn’t keep websites up well at all), however it highlights some things:</p>

<p>[Emory</a> : Campus Life : Lesbian/Gay/Bisexual/Transgender Life](<a href=“Emory Campus Life | Emory University | Atlanta GA”>Emory Campus Life | Emory University | Atlanta GA)</p>

<p>This group also has a facebook if you want to see what else happens w/Emory LGBT: <a href=“http://www.facebook.com/pages/Emory-University-Office-of-LGBT-Life/17750124821[/url]”>http://www.facebook.com/pages/Emory-University-Office-of-LGBT-Life/17750124821&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>We also have a full site dedicated to diversity at Emory (I really hope every school, especially top 20 has one. Awesome resource), there could be some relevant topics there: <a href=“http://www.diversity.emory.edu/home[/url]”>http://www.diversity.emory.edu/home&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>Emory has a very interesting history when it comes to LGBT life.</p>

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<p>Thanks to Warbler, seems like you can’t go wrong at Duke or Emory Again, I’ll have to take Warbler and the other Duke poster’s word about it being pretty good there, just as they and you will have to trust me when I say it’s pretty good here. I don’t know who is better and after being contested, though I still think Emory being in Atlanta makes it much more interesting in the context of gay life. </p>

<p>It seems that the gay life at Duke and Emory are very similar after looking at both LGBT life websites (I decided to do research to help you, we both have alumni networks specifically for lgbt members too). A similar amount of events and organizations contribute to enhancing gay life. What one could appreciate about Duke though is the fact that institutionalization has led to some perks. For example, their LGBT life main space/safe space is much better than ours (my friends complain about it all of the time basically saying the scene is too big for it. Apparently it’s a small lounge in the university center. Sucks for them. I know some smaller organizations that probably have better spaces). It could be a good idea to go to Duke if you don’t get in elsewhere and by some luck and awesomeness get into Duke. I love the campus, the academics are great, and its prestige and organization may indeed be good to you. I can now see the benefits of institutionalizing it (again, gay life appears great here, but we haven’t fully done all of that). However, if you can’t get into or attend Duke for w/e reasons, being at Emory certainly won’t disadvantage you. A large, vibrant scene+ Atlanta certainly doesn’t= a loss. Guess it depends on where you want to be. Both seem amazing. That would leave me to choose based upon location, academic program(s) of interest, and petty stuff like architecture and green space (in which case Duke would win me. Gothic/Princtonian Architecture+ larger southern forest area=awesome to me lol). As a science major, the only thing that would annoy me at Duke are those jumbo sized classes for freshmen and sophomore year. I’d probably be weeded out lol. I hate classes over 150. Dorms/housing are weaker (though prettier) as well. OP would be screwed at Duke if they wanted a BBA as well as Duke doesn’t do undergrad business. However, I believe it has an amazing econ. program. Both are excellent in biology.</p>

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<p>It’s not particularly intellectual and neither is Emory. There are fair shares of intellectualism at both (I personally have experienced here just as you have there), but it’s understood that neither environment is loaded with it. I think Rice (the whole unconventional wisdom theme is interesting) perhaps has something interesting going on that makes it a little different from us, y’all, and Vandy. But regardless, the Ivies, engineering schools (Caltech, MIT), and Chicago have a much different vibe in this arena. I’m simply trying to honest. We all could afford to be taken down a notch or realize that there are areas of difference and perhaps room for improvement. We are all great, but we are certainly not perfect, no matter what we claim as students who attend each institution. I’m just calling us on it. </p>

<p>Emory certainly doesn’t look better than Duke in many (or even most) areas. We need to recruit and KEEP more renowned faculty, get a more intensive research environment, get a more viable identity and admissions/enrollment scheme, some types of facilities could use improvement, like our rec. type facilities. For example, the frosh class has grown so large, that Glenn Memorial can no longer hold the Convocation (not enough seats), and is quite inadequate to hold very intense events (seriously, we hosted the Dalai Lama in our freaking gym). We are worse/certainly not better, in particular areas, however, we are aren’t worse in some others. Many students at Duke (no offense, particularly ones on CC. Seriously, I remember watching some throwdown where someone was completely bent on proving it was superior to Chicago, a completely different school) make it seem as if it is completely perfect compared to a place like us. It is certainly better overall, w/o being absolutely superior. My point is, we aren’t absolutely inferior, and that there are some ironic overlaps with a school currently better , than and often cited as completely superior to us. </p>

<p>Anyway, now-a-days, I’m taking the position that we shouldn’t really be compared to it, Vandy, or Rice. I imagine there is a lot of cross-applying, but I don’t think we’re that similar. All of you have UG engineering and D-1 sports for example. We have UG business school, nursing, Oxford, and a dominating CAS (Duke has this as well), and D-3 sports. This has huge implications for differences in social and academic orientations of the campus vs. the other 3 and I don’t think it’s a particular good position to be in (takes a lot to attract apps) :frowning: . Why people don’t actually consider these differences seriously if admitted to us and at least one of the others, I don’t know. Instead they enroll here and say: “Does Emory have BME?” Indicates Emory’s wonderful achievements at marketing itself properly and creating an identity.</p>

15

<p>I am assuming that you must be a student of high caliber, academically. Therefore, you should also consider Stanford because they are known to be one of the most gay friendly universities in the nation. I am not trying to change your mind, just opening your options a little more. However, if Emory is your first choice, well then there you go!! Lol.
Good Luck!</p>

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<p>I was actually looking into this too, the only problem is while I think I could get into Emory, potentially even as a scholar, I think my chances at Stanford are a lot lower.</p>

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<p>Backtracking a little: The good thing about Duke gay-life is North Carolina Pride Parade takes place every year a street over from Duke campus. I live in Durham and can attest to the fact that Durham is EXTREMELY liberal and Duke has its openly gay students come into high schools and give educational lectures to students. Hope this helps!</p>

<p>Also, in terms of reputation, Duke has a reputation that goes with its name. I tell people I’m from Durham and their immediate response is, “Do you want to go to Duke?” (Now, I am a UNC-CH fan, so that’s a definite no).</p>

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<p>Just want to chime in and say I’ve missed reading Bernie’s extremely long posts on CC.
He’s very insightful and I almost always agree with him.</p>

<p>Welcome back, bud.</p>

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<p>so we’ve come to the conclusion that Emory is gay friendly. although, there is a difference between being friendly and having a large LGB student population. most seem to mention that Atlanta has a huge gay pop but what about emory?</p>

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<p>bump^^^^^^</p>