Gay students accepted at Oberlin?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Oberlin College
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<p>My junior son is just beginning his college search. We have visited several schools already to get a feel for large/ small, public/private, etc. </p>

<p>So far we are looking up schools as we receive the school's literature (assuming these are coming based on PSAT or ACT scores). We know three things so far 1) school must be gay friendly, 2) prefers smaller privates (up to 3000 students) 3) must meet need (although we understand need is different at each school.</p>

<p>Would love to know what the atmosphere is for gay students.</p>

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<p>Oberlin is one of the most gay-friendly schools that I can imagine. LGBT issues and identities are solidly within the mainstream here, and a substantial minority of the school is gay, lesbian, or bi. People are generally very aware of what it means to be gay and are open and supportive to friends who come out… it’s something that’s accepted, embraced, and not treated as a big deal. The college as an institution is supportive as well – there are plenty of out faculty members and administrators who act as informal mentors to students.</p>

<p>There are a few organizations specifically for gay students – a lot of them are supported by the [Multicultural</a> Resource Center](<a href=“http://new.oberlin.edu/office/multicultural-resource-center/index.dot]Multicultural”>http://new.oberlin.edu/office/multicultural-resource-center/index.dot), which has a full-time LGBTQ Community Coordinator whose job is to organize [community</a> events](<a href=“http://new.oberlin.edu/office/multicultural-resource-center/programs/lgbtq.dot]community”>http://new.oberlin.edu/office/multicultural-resource-center/programs/lgbtq.dot) and special programs like [Queerfest[/url</a>]. Lambda Union is an LGBT umbrella organization that sponsors speakers, screens movies, holds game nights, etc.; there are also groups for gay students who are religious and who are people of color. Starting this year there has been a support group called OUTspoken that meets once a week. There are also abundant courses and speakers dealing with sexual orientation and identity – this year we’ve had visits from Lt. Dan Choi, Dan Savage, and Rabbi Steve Greenberg, to name a few.</p>

<p>Oh, yeah, and while the dating scene is small, there are a lot of happy gay couples wandering around campus :)</p>

<p>I’d be happy to talk more personally via PM if you’d like – you might also find it helpful to look at the [url=&lt;a href=“http://www.campusclimateindex.org/]Campus”&gt;http://www.campusclimateindex.org/]Campus</a> Climate Index](<a href=“http://new.oberlin.edu/office/multicultural-resource-center/programs/queerfest.dot]Queerfest[/url”>http://new.oberlin.edu/office/multicultural-resource-center/programs/queerfest.dot), if you haven’t already discovered it.</p>

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<p>quaere - thanks for the information and links. I may have more questions later as we put a list of schools together.</p>