Which highly selective colleges have a prominent gay population?

College Search & Selection
21

<p>Penn has a national reputation--and one of the longest histories--of being one of the most gay-friendly campuses in the country:</p>

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[quote]
National gay and lesbian newsmagazine The Advocate put Penn in a tie for best campus for gay students in its College Guide for LGBT Students, released last month.

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</p>

<p>Penn</a> called most gay-friendly - News</p>

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So where are the best schools for gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered students? According to Windmeyer, here's the top 20 choices, in alphabetical order:</p>

<p>American University
Duke University
Indiana University
New York University
Oberlin College
Ohio State University
Pennsylvania State University
Princeton University
Stanford University
Tufts University
University of California-Berkeley
University of California-Los Angeles
University of California-Santa Cruz
University of Massachusetts-Amherst
University of Michigan
University of Minnesota-Twin Cities
University of Oregon
University of Pennsylvania
University of Puget Sound
University of Southern California

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<p>Gay</a> Friendly College Campuses: Review of The Advocate College Guide for LGBT Students</p>

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The Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Center at Penn, one of the oldest and most active programs of its kind in the country, supports Penn lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender students, staff, alumni, and faculty and increases the general Penn community’s understanding and acceptance of its sexual and gender minority members. Established in 1982, the Center provides a variety of services throughout the year for and concerning Penn's lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community.

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<p>Lesbian</a> Gay Bisexual Transgender Center at the University of Pennsylvania</p>

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Penn was in the news in October 2000 as it announced plans for the nation's first sexual and gender minorities community center in a dedicated, on-campus building. The LGBT Center moved into the restored 19th century Carriage House in summer, 2002.</p>

<hr>

<p>Penn alumni David Goodhand (C’85) and Vincent Griski (W’85) provided an unprecedented $2 million gift to Penn to fund the renovations. The pair announced the gift at a National Coming Out Day rally at Penn in October, 2000. Penn President Judith Rodin (CW’66) and Provost Robert Barchi (Gr’72 M’72 GM’73) both spoke at the rally along with several student leaders.

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<p>Lesbian</a> Gay Bisexual Transgender Center at the University of Pennsylvania</p>

22

<p>Pace university is also really accepting.
My friend goes there, is the most flamboyant person in the world, and he had no trouble at all!</p>

23

<p>Reed is gay-friendly. One gay Reed student complained that there is no gay organization at Reed (just as there are no male or female organizations).</p>

24

<p>what do u guys think about Pomona's gay population?</p>

25

<p>This book may be helpful in tips for assessing gay life:</p>

<p><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/14/fashion/14guide.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/14/fashion/14guide.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>Be warned that the rankings aren't very.... accurate? I mean, Brown and Smith are missing.</p>

26

<p>well gay people usually have a pretty strong application too... ever think of that? they have to overcome more difficulties than the average person and usually don't have time for love relationships, they focus more on academics/activities. also people who declare themselves as gay are pretty confident in themselves, another trait commonly found in successful applicants.</p>

27

<p>right on, adamonkey</p>

28

<p>You can probably broaden your search a little bit from the first few schools that come to mind. I went to Rice (in one of the reddest states in the country) which was actually a great place to be gay. The GLBT organizations on campus aren't that incredibly active, but it's primarily due to the fact that the gay population is so integrated into the rest of the university that most gay people didn't really feel the need to seek out an organization in order to feel accepted. Last year 2 of the 9 residential college presidents (the primary student government bodies) and almost half of the males in my residential college government were gay.</p>

<p>Not a place where you'd ever find much of a gay rights demonstration though.</p>

29

<p>That's kind of how I think of Chicago: we have a high percentage of self-identified LGBTQ students, and if you include students who self-identify as straight but acknowledge "queer" tendencies, you'll have an even higher percentage.</p>

<p>However, only a fraction of that population is involved directly in LGBTQ programming. My thought is that most of them don't think it's that useful for them, which makes sense, because I live with a lot of openly gay students who have brought their significant others/dates to the house.</p>

30

<p>Here's more on "The Advocate College Guide for LGBT Students," from the NY Times:</p>

<p>
[quote]
Ivy Halls and Open Arms</p>

<p>Published: September 14, 2006</p>

<p>THE Advocate College Guide for LGBT Students” recognizes 20 colleges and universities as “pioneering” lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender leaders in higher education. </p>

<p>The list includes their “Gay Point Average,” ranking campus policies, programs and practices, with 20 being the highest possible score. </p>

<p>20: University of Pennsylvania; University of Southern California</p>

<p>19: American University; Ohio State University; Princeton; Pennsylvania State University; University of California, Berkeley; University of California, Los Angeles; University of Minnesota, Twin Cities; University of Oregon; University of Puget Sound</p>

<p>18: Duke; Indiana University; Oberlin College; Stanford; Tufts University; University of California, Santa Cruz; University of Michigan</p>

<p>17: New York University; University of Massachusetts, Amherst

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<p><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/14/fashion/14gguide.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/14/fashion/14gguide.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

31

<p>
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Be warned that the rankings aren't very.... accurate? I mean, Brown and Smith are missing.

[/quote]

The so-called ranking is actually very well thought out, and I personally found the book far more useful than Princeton Review's list. In any case, the author specifically addressed those wondering about colleges missing from the book.</p>

<p>*Mr. Steele said there are probably another hundred colleges that could have been included in the book. One of those is Harvard, he said, which did not have a policy that prohibited discrimination against transgender students when the guide was being compiled, but does now.</p>

<p>“Maybe [Smith] did not have enough supporters in the initial unscientific nomination process,” Mr. Steele said.*</p>

<p>A college may have a reputation for being gay-friendly, but that does NOT mean it should necessarily be ranked well in a comprehensive ranking that considers various factors (LGBT-themed housing, paid staff & LGBT center, LGBT studies/courses, etc.). One Yale student complained about the complacent nature of many LGBT students at Yale:


</p>

32

<p>I guess what I meant is that while social activism is excellent and necessary and while I applaud schools that make a concerted effort to look outward, it's not an indicator of whether a student will feel at home on that campus.</p>

<p>So maybe the bigger and badder question is: where do you feel comfortable? And what sorts of opportunities do you want to be available to you? And as answers will vary, so will the "best" schools for that particular set of interests and comfort levels vary.</p>

<p>For example, many of my gay friends have absolutely zero interest in gender/sexuality studies at any level, so choosing a school based on how many courses it offered with the word "gender" in the title would not be a useful mechanism. While the existence of a gender studies program (or gender-related classes under other headings, like sociology, English, anthropology, history, etc.) can give one an idea of how prevalent gender/sexuality academic conversations are and how students and faculty treat gender/sexuality conversations, it doesn't mean it's the "best" school.</p>

<p>I use Brown and Smith as examples of schools that are fabled to be very gay-oriented; even though they lack in methodology, I think that they still deserve some consideration for gay-friendliness. I've been to Northampton a few times and I can't imagine a more comfortable place to be a lesbian.</p>

33

<p>what do you guys think about schools in the west?</p>

34

<p>especially UC Berkeley</p>

35

<p>Try anywhere in Boston. BU, BC (come leaps and bounds in the past 5 years), Harvard, Northeastern, Tufts, MIT, Wellesley.... Mass. was the first state to pass legal gay marriage and continues to have many vibrant gay neighbrohoods.</p>

36

<p>it seems that brown is just mentioned because it has a reputation for being the liberal ivy, not because it actually has a prominent gay population.</p>

37

<p>I can't speak for Dartmouth, U Penn or Cornell (because I don't have experience with them) but of the Ivies, all of them have practically identical, very tolerant and accepting policies. I heard that Yale has the most significant LGBT population but maybe Brown too? All of them are pretty gay-friendly (especially the ones located in gay-friendly cities or areas, like Columbia and Harvard).</p>

38

<p>Does anyone know what the dating/relationship scene for LGBT students is like at any of these mentioned schools?</p>

39

<p>Berkeley has a pretty large gay population. I don't know any percentages, but you definitely wouldn't be alone.</p>

40

<p>
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Does anyone know what the dating/relationship scene for LGBT students is like at any of these mentioned schools?

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<p>My impression at MIT was that lesbians had better dating scene than gay men. This comes entirely from the reports of my lesbian and gay friends and could just mean that the gay men whine more. :) The bi women never seemed to have any trouble finding partners of either gender (I think I only knew one bi man at MIT, and he's been out for less than a year, so it's not a great sample size). The trans folks seem to be able to find partners just fine, but for them, it seems to help to be attracted to females (regardless of whether you're MTF or FTM).</p>