<p>So I was killing time by messing around on the College Search feature, just to see if my top choices are what they 'should' be. (Turns out I'm a pretty good judge on my own).</p>
<p>But one thing that caught my eye was in the perceptions section. Apparently CC doesn't think UVa is "GLBT Friendly." (Only a party school in a great college town) I live in Virginia and have never heard anything bad about in that respect and my older sister ('10) never said a word about it (granted, she wasn't gay).</p>
<p>Is this just a quirk in the CC system, or is there a reason? Most other colleges I applied to, like Vandy and W&M, were considered "GLBT friendly." Like, what's the difference?</p>
<p>I have my reservations about College Search’s “GLBT Friendly” feature. It says the data was “collected from the community of users on CollegeConfidential.com and confirmed by college admissions experts.”</p>
<p>Which users were consulted? Who were the college admissions experts?</p>
<p>That’s really odd…a student I met last year said she became interested in UVa when she read about us in an LGBT college guide book. There are quite a few well known LGBT administrators and faculty members here and I don’t think we’d attract and retain them if this wasn’t a friendly place (students are only here for four years, but the faculty/administration stay for much longer).</p>
<p>There is definitely an old LGBT thread in the UVa forum in which some of the student groups were discussed. You might want to do a little search to dig it up.</p>
<p>I actually started the thread that Dean J previously mentioned. </p>
<p>I ended up enrolling at UVa and have loved every minute of it. I haven’t faced any prejudice or discrimination of any sort. I know that in the past UVa was much more conservative, but that is definitely not the case anymore. UVA even released an “It Get’s Better” video a few weeks ago. I have never heard of anyone being harassed because of their sexual orientation and would say that the student body is very accepting. If anyone has any questions, feel free to ask.</p>
<p>I’m a LGBT student here at UVA and I can attest to the fact that the student body is generally pretty accepting about sexuality. I haven’t witnessed any hate crimes or acts of discrimination. However, a friend of mine who is also LGBT identified told me that a frat kicked two students out of their house during a party because they were dancing with one another. Apparently this happened at another frat as well. From what I understand, UVA offers services for LGBT frat members which leads me to believe that the greek system here isn’t too friendly when it comes to sexuality.</p>
<p>Also, a couple of years ago there seemed to be this debate within the LGBT community about discrimination based on race. This led to the creation of Minority Squared, which was created for gays who happen to be minorities. There are also a few other LGBT related organizations on Grounds.</p>
<p>Overall, UVA is definitely a safe place. I wouldn’t say it’s the friendliest university since UVA students pride themselves on this Southern tradition “guys in ties, girls in pearls” stuff, but there’s a good chance that you’ll go through all four years without witnessing any discrimination.</p>
<p>I suspected as much about the CC rankings/whatever, but it did raise the question for me.</p>
<p>And thanks Dean J! I found that thread really useful. I’m surprised I didn’t stumble upon it on my own. Definitely took away my (slight) concern and I’m even more stoked for Days on the Lawn!</p>
<p>@coolpg, I’m not terribly worried. I’m a Southerner at heart, born and raised in Richmond. Plus the whole frat scene seems a little foreign to me. But thank you for your insight.</p>