To honor this year’s Pride Month, we want to once again celebrate some colleges and universities known for their LGBTQ-inclusive policies, programs, and practices.
Take our polls below and let us know your favorites!
Our selection comprises some schools that have been previously recognized for some aspect of their LGBTQ-friendliness. Let us know your picks and suggest other schools we should add to the list!
Which of these southern schools is LGBTQ-friendly?
Elon University
George Mason University
Guilford College
Northern Kentucky University
U. of Kentucky
U. of Louisville
Virginia Wesleyan University
Agnes Scott
Emory
Loyola New Orleans
U. of Alabama – Birmingham
U. of Miami
U. of North Carolina – Asheville
William & Mary
None of the Above
Other (comment below)
0voters
Which of these midwestern schools is LGBTQ-friendly?
Augsburg University
Kansas State University
Kent State University
Macalester College
Purdue University
Southern Illinois University Carbondale
U. of Wisconsin – Green Bay
None of the Above
Other (comment below)
0voters
Which of these southwestern schools is LGBTQ-friendly?
Interested in following this. This was important for my S25. He was looking at George Mason, but when they took down some of their public support for LGBTQ, and toned down their DEI stuff, he was turned off. Also, as a public campus they sometimes get outside protestors condemning homosexuality and such.
It’s a shame because George Mason had a great reputation for being very safe for LGBTQ students.
It wasn’t the main reason for S25 to decide to go to Loyola Marymount, but it was a factor. Which was curious for me that he felt safer at a Jesuit school.
I’m surprised to see that Conn College is not on the New England list. It shows up elsewhere as the #1 gay friendly college in Connecticut. I’d say the same thing for Yale, Smith, and Vassar.
Does this mean based mainly on campus administrative policies (which Campus Pride Index mostly measures)?
Other factors (not really measured by Campus Pride Index) that people may be considering include the social environment on campus, the social environment nearby off campus, and the legal environment in the state and local area where the campus is.
There may also be differences in the answers depending on which of the letters in LGBTQ someone happens to be.
I think this is a great point. You need policies that are friendly, sure, but you also might be interested in access to a critical mass of other LGBTQ folks and a dating pool. Some schools in blue states but rural areas might be supportive but lack a vibrant social scene.
I can’t speak from personal experience, but I strongly suspect that Hendrix is another southern LGBTQ-friendly school.
A school’s mission statement doesn’t always mean that’s what a school feels like on-campus, but considering the fact that this is a school in Arkansas that came up with this statement before most organizations started embracing DEI, I would conjecture that this very much aligns with the school’s ethos
Hendrix College is an open and affirming space for members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ+) community. We have several active student-run organizations that support and advocate for LGBTQ+ issues and concerns.
While Hendrix has plenty of room to grow, we are the most affirming and welcoming college/university in the state of Arkansas.
And from the page on resources, including all-gender restrooms and name changes: LGBTQ+ | Hendrix College
Some states may enact legislation banning all gender multiuser bathrooms, including at private colleges, so a college may not have a choice in this matter if the state it is in passes such legislation.
Well, since no one answered me in the 8 days since I posed this question I just hit “other” to see the results in regions where I am not familiar with different schools LGBTQ reputations. Disappointed that my “other” comment on the “southern schools” where I suggested Warren Wilson was not incorporated into the results. Good idea, but really kind of a poorly executed poll.
@Sweetgum, if the expectation is that I add everything that is suggested as “other” to the polls, that is technically impossible. Any change to the poll (be it tweaking the question or adding a new answer option) automatically removes all votes so that’s not something I want to do. The “other” answers are extremely valuable and people can read about these schools in the comments.
Maybe I misunderstood the concern of the poster you were addressing, but I thought the issue is that you can’t see the results unless you’ve voted. So anyone that wants to see the results might have to cast an uninformed vote to unlock the results. Anyway, that was my concern.