<p>I'm soo excited to have gotten into Haverford! It was one of my top choices and I LOVE the honor code. I also really like the small classes, atmosphere, proximity to philly, ect.</p>
<p>the only concern I have is that I'm openly gay (guy), and really need a college where people where I wont feel different or excluded or have to go out of my way to be accepted. I felt like haverford had a really open and trusting atmosphere, and theres definitly a bond between the students and teachers, but it seemed a little on the conservative side when I visited, which is concerning (obviously)</p>
<p>I've heard conflicting stuff about the acceptance of the gay community at haverford, so I was wondering if I could hear from some current students what your experience has been? thanks alot</p>
<p>Hey!
I’ll be attending HC this fall, and I’ve had the same concern for a while.
I don’t remember if I heard “that’s gay” while I visited the campus last Fall, but from my perspective, the students didn’t exactly seem very judgmental of it, or of other things for that matter. Then again, I don’t remember meeting any gay students who openly told me they are gay. </p>
<p>Overtime, I’ve met a few students on campus who are openly gay. They don’t seem to complain about it (I’ve gathered this through FB stalking).</p>
<p>1) HC was one of the 1st schools to have a gender-neutral housing policy; the rationale being that to assume there is no sexual tension between individuals of the same-sex living together is an assumption that may sometimes be wrong. This policy applies to upper-class students but 1st year students can request to live in singles in Gummere.</p>
<p>2) You may want to consider use of words like “conservative” and “liberal”. Those words don’t mean the same thing to different people and the same person can have both traditionally “liberal” and “conservative” view points. For example, African Americans as a demographic group are traditionally “liberal” in terms some social /economic policies but as a demographic group are generally more conservative when it comes to same-sex marriage. “Conservatives” generally believe in small government but some social conservatives want government policies in place when it comes to some medical decision-making and same-sex relationship between consenting adults. </p>
<p>3) I’m wary about forwarding you to this but did you check out the links I posted on the thread about “Food, dorms and social life?” A student who graduated in 2007 and identified himself as gay discussed his experience on campus. To be clear, this isn’t meant for you to make a generalization about campus culture but rather to provide evidence that at least for this one student, he appeared to have a pretty good time at HC. </p>
<p>My S is leaning toward HC and is not gay, but is very supportive of gay rights. He considers it a non-issue, if that helps. We live in California, and maybe students have different views in other states, but my experience has been that this generation of students can’t even understand why it would make a difference whether or not you are gay.</p>
<p>Here is my take as a parent of a senior. A friend of mine has a daughter who is a very politically active lesbian who was considering Haverford. I asked my son about how welcomed this student might be and his perspective is that HC is very open and accepting of all different types of folks. His girlfriend held the same opinion. What I have observed (and this is just my opinion) the students at HC are kind hearted, open minded intellectuals where the Quaker heritage of acceptance constantly plays in the backround. I don’t know how active the GLBT community is at HC but I really believe that for the most part each individual is welcomed for who he/she is. Hope that helps.</p>
<p>I’m a current junior who’s openly gay (guy) and never once have I found it difficult to be out at Haverford. I’m had a lot of anxiety about coming out to people at Haverford before I got there, unsure of how I’d bring it up, whether I’d tell my hall right away, etc. All my stress was for nothing. Coming out to people happened pretty seamlessly and everyone was super supportive. A lot of my friends are gay as I’ve met them through various LGBT things (SAGA, our sexuality and gender alliance, and QDG, our LGBT only group). Like all clubs on campus, they are what students make of them. If you want them to be political, there are plenty of opportunities for you to make that happen. Last year two students wanted to create a social space where queer women could meet each other and I think they meet weekly and sometimes have pizza or movie nights. The queer community is small because we’re a small school but there are a lot of other gay students in the area if you want to put yourself out there for dating opportunities. (Actually, the queer community is a lot bigger than most people think it is because only a segment of the community routinely go to LGBT clubs.) Openly gay students are active in all segments of campus life (to my knowledge, one of the Co-Heads of student government last year was openly gay and there are gay men and women in student government now as well as working in admissions as the face of the school). </p>
<p>So, in sum, Haverford students totally embrace and support their LGBT peers and never once has my sexual orientation been an issue. Rather, it’s one of the many differences and distinctions celebrated by Haverford students.</p>
<p>This may interest the OP and members of the Haverford community.</p>
<p>As a forward, it needs to be stated that SAGA is not just for members of the LGBT community, but also straight students to show their support (or lack of hatred towards the LGBT community).</p>
<p>I visited Haverford this weekend and met with a rising-senior who is working with the administration (specifically in regards to affinity groups–ALAS, ASA, SAGA, etc.). He expressed that the administration feels other groups are very well represented on campus, but that SAGA’s presence is not as solid. He says that the administration intends on working with SAGA more closely to help it have a stronger presence on campus. </p>
<p>One of the reasons SAGA is not perceived as active as the other groups is because it is mainly a discussion based group, whereas ALAS and ASA also have other cultural aspects (foods, dance, etc.). I have a few straight-friendly ideas for activities that could help it have a stronger presence, but I definitely suggest that you join and bring in your own input. </p>
<p>Btw, I am also an incoming freshman this fall so I’m really glad to see all of these positive responses from those of you who posted above. </p>
<p>I’m looking forward to attending Haverford even more now!</p>
<p>In addition to everything you mentioned, I also think SAGA’s campus presence may also be less when compared to others organizations because of how events are sponsored. The other organizations sponsor events basically during the whole year (for example, when I headed ASA, we would host one big event each semester and also try to plan 2-3 smaller campus wide events as well such as with visiting speakers (still can’t believe we got Maxine Hong Kingston) or performers). Most of SAGA’s campus-wide events though seem to have occurred during Outweek with less campus exposure at other times. There are probably unique/important reasons why it’s planned this way but I think that may be a factor too. </p>
<p>Great that you’re looking forward to HC and thinking about some of these issues to tackle. I think some of the most important skill sets I learned while in college happened out of the classroom.</p>