Is Washington University a LGBT friendly campus? We don’t know. If we had participated in Campus Pride’s LGBT-Friendly Campus Climate Index though, we’d have a pretty good idea. Over 100 colleges and universities participated in the index this past year, providing a comprehensive overview of each college’s policies and attitudes towards LGBT issues on campus.
While Campus Pride’s Index is relatively new on the scene of college rankings, that doesn’t mean the University should discount its importance as a determining factor for students deciding which school to attend. Berkeley, UPenn and Bucknell University have already shown their commitment to addressing LGBT concerns by participating in the Index. In fact, scrolling down the list of universities that participated reveals many of the universities we like to compare ourselves to, leading to the question: why didn’t we participate as well?
Certainly the importance of LGBT safety and acceptance should rank up there with “best dorm life” and “most beautiful campus” in those polls that seem to break down a university’s qualities into convenient, comparable categories. The Princeton Review does include a category for “Gay Community Acceptance,” but it’s difficult, if not impossible, to figure out how exactly this acceptance score is determined. What makes Campus Pride’s ranking different from The Princeton Review is that it is not only a self-assessment, but anyone interested can look at the 60 or so questions that registered school officials fill out for the index simply by looking at the Web site.
We’ve all seen the “safe zones” signs on RA and administrator doors, but these mean little to a prospective freshman who’s never had the opportunity to see these signs. A prospective freshman is more likely to hear rumors about a school’s attitude towards LGBT issues, which, as is the case with all rumors, could be true or completely unfounded. Here is a tool that is offering a standardized, reliable mean of assessing a school’s LGBT climate. We should use it.
The Index is not only a tool for prospective freshmen. The universities that fill out the Index gain insight into how current practices can be improved. Answering the questions forces the campus official who filled out the Index to consider the extent to which LGBT issues are being addressed, and if the university under consideration falls short of accepted practices in certain areas, Campus Pride offers suggestions to remedy the situation.
If the University didn’t participate in the Index because of a concern that we might not score well, then we have serious issues to address. If apathy was the reason, then we need to wake up and realize that LGBT concerns need to be recognized as being an integral part of the student experience. And if we think we might score well, then we should be proud and let it be known that Washington University has a LGBT friendly climate.