<p>Hi I am planning to apply to Berea for the 2010 fall term and I really need to know how good or bad is the gay atmosphere, I want to come out there, a fresh start but in order to do that, I need to know how accepting this college is, and also the town. I hope you can help me.</p>
<p>Thanks.</p>
<p>I hope you do well.</p>
<p>Berea is in a rather rural area of Kentucky.</p>
<p>[Berea</a>, Kentucky (KY 40403, 40404) Detailed Profile - relocation, real estate, travel, jobs, hospitals, schools, crime, move, moving, houses news, sex offenders](<a href=“http://www.city-data.com/city/Berea-Kentucky.html]Berea”>http://www.city-data.com/city/Berea-Kentucky.html)</p>
<p>Personally, I would look for a group in the community. Like, a glbt group of sorts.</p>
<p>I do not know if the college itself is gay friendly, but it is quite a progressive college in many respects.</p>
<p>Good luck with picking such a nice school. I wish you all the best and I am sure someone would have more in depth information to offer.</p>
<p>Check and see if Berea has any clubs for gay students and their allies.</p>
<p>Seems reasonably gay-friendly.</p>
<p>“Concerning GLBT Equality:
The Berea College student handbook contains the following two statements regarding personal conduct:
“In light of its mission in the tradition of impartial love and social equality, Berea College welcomes all peoples of the earth to learn and work here. This means that the College welcomes all students and staff who seek to live and to learn at Berea in the context of our mission as expressed in the Great Commitments; but this does not mean that all behavior is considered acceptable. Given Berea’s inclusive welcome to all peoples of the earth, the College will not tolerate speech and acts that are harassing to anyone regardless of race, gender, religion, sexual orientation, or other such distinguishing characteristics.”
“The Berea College community, as a steward of the Christian principles that brought Berea College into being, recognizes its responsibility to provide guidance for students in important areas of interaction and conduct. Drawing upon this historical inheritance and the challenges it poses to us all, we expect of our students high standards of personal conduct: to exercise tolerance and conflict resolution over violence and intimidation, to choose honesty in and out of the classroom, and to respect human sexual integrity in a way that encourages mature and faithful relationships and resists casual intimacy without responsibility. We encourage respect for the law while supporting the principle of nonviolent civil disobedience for reasons of conscience.”
The Berea College student handbook can be viewed here.
Berea College has a non-discrimination policy that reads:
“It is the policy of Berea College not to discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, national or ethnic origin, age, sex, disability, or sexual orientation in its educational programs, admissions practices, scholarship and loan programs, athletics and other school-administered activities or employment practices.”
In 2000 a Domestic Partner Insurance policy was enacted to cover the partners of homosexual faculty and staff.
In addition, Berea College provides convocation events that bring to the campus speakers on a variety of subjects. GLBT issues are sometimes a topic. Judy Shepard, mother of slain gay college student Matthew Shepard, was invited to speak.”</p>
<p>[Equality</a> Ride](<a href=“http://www.equalityride.com/print_article.php?article_id=60]Equality”>http://www.equalityride.com/print_article.php?article_id=60)</p>
<p>thanks mildred for your comment, I am really looking forward to get in.</p>
<p>Northstarmom thanks to you too, that was very informative. However I would like to have a current or past student´s perspective on the issue, and if there is a gay student from Berea much much better.</p>
<p>Thank you all for your comments.</p>
<p>I haven’t seen many Berea students posting on CC, so I think odds are slim that you’ll get comments here from Berea students and alumni. </p>
<p>You’ll probably get better info by contacting Berea admissions and asking them for a list of info about clubs and organizations including contact info for officers. You’d see if there are clubs like “Gay Straight Alliance”. You’d also be able to contact students and ask them about the issues that concern you.</p>
<p>When I googled “Berea college” and “gay”, I found this info about Berea in an article about gay students at religious colleges.</p>
<p>" Alvin Dale Green, a recent graduate of Berea College, said the school’s philosophies of Christian love gave him the confidence to come out…</p>
<p>Green, 25, knew he was different, even in kindergarten, he said, because he “never wanted to be a daddy.” He learned the word gay as a pre-teen, but didn’t accept it until after he was baptized as a teenager.</p>
<p>He went into the water believing it would wash away his sins.</p>
<p>“But I came out of the water and I was still gay,” Green said. “I had a constant prayer vigil before then to erase it … but I didn’t feel any different.”</p>
<p>He decided that God must have made him gay for a reason, but he soon stopped attending church. Still a shy, “invisible” teen at Rockcastle County High School, he chose to go to Berea College because it was familiar, affordable, small and close to home. And as a freshman, he learned that the Christian values the school mentioned in its mission statement were meant to include everyone. That’s when he stopped being invisible, he said, and dove into the spotlight.</p>
<p>“People say I blew the closet door apart,” said Green, who now performs as a drag queen and works at Eastern Kentucky University. "There were a whole lot more gay people on campus than I imagined. It seemed like the natural progression.</p>
<p>Green joined groups for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender students. He organized dances. He met his first boyfriend.</p>
<p>Sometimes, he was taunted by students about his sexual orientation.</p>
<p>Still, Green said Berea was the best place for him to come out. If he’d gone to Eastern Kentucky University, his other choice, he would have commuted from home to class, never building the confidence he needed to come out, he said.</p>
<p>“You, as a Berea College student, are safe, because someone else there shares your story,” Green said. “There are people who are not the most accepting, but you get that everywhere. It’s not a place where you’re afraid to come out. You feel the fellowship. You’re free to soul search.”…"
[Orientation</a> Vs. Affiliation: Gay Students, Religious Colleges: A Student’s Expulsion This Year for Being Openly Gay Brought to Light the Struggle Many Have Long Faced on Campuses - Education News - redOrbit](<a href=“http://www.redorbit.com/news/education/549485/orientation_vs_affiliation_gay_students_religious_colleges_a_students_expulsion/index.html]Orientation”>http://www.redorbit.com/news/education/549485/orientation_vs_affiliation_gay_students_religious_colleges_a_students_expulsion/index.html)</p>
<p>wooow!! I really appreciate that you took the time to investigate about the topic, it is quite useful and hopeful. I really do hope that my experience at Berea (if I am admitted) will be a rest from all these years of not being able to express myself fully.</p>
<p>Thank you.</p>
<p>I took a tour of Berea and the tour guide volunteered the information that Berea prides itself on its gay community. He wasn’t, I don’t think, since he also showed us his girlfriend’s dorm, but he seemed really open, sincere, and friendly. Nice place!</p>
<p>great!! thanks.</p>
<p>I wish I could make a tour, too sad I am hundreds of thousands kilometers away!!</p>