IU tops gay-friendly college chart

Striving to create community through diversity — this is one of the main motivations for IU’s Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Student Support Services Office every year.

Working toward that goal might be one of the reasons IU has recently been rated by Campus Pride as a premier gay-friendly college, receiving a rating of 3.5 out of 5 stars.

“We are always excited to see good reviews from Campus Pride,” said Doug Bauder, GLBTSSS Office coordinator.

“We feel really good about the support we provide for the students on campus. It’s always a great feeling knowing that we’re turning out some national advocates for promoting and defending diversity. I am really proud of what we’ve been able to do.”

Campus Pride, a national nonprofit organization working to create safer college environments for GLBT students, has created a tool for ranking the top GLBT-friendly colleges throughout the country to help students and parents with the college search.

“Typically the more popular LGBT-friendly colleges are near the East or West coasts in the bigger states like California or New York,” said Shane Windmeyer, IU alumnus and co-founder of Campus Pride. “But that doesn’t mean schools in the Midwest should (negatively) compare their ranking to the schools on the coasts. IU is doing very well for itself — it’s amongst the most progressive LGBT-friendly schools in the Midwest.”

Since its inception in 2001, the LGBT-Friendly Campus Climate Index has helped universities learn how to improve their GLBT campus life as well as provide a more educational and welcoming environment for GLBT people.

The index consists of more than 50 questions that correspond to eight GLBT-friendly factors: GLBT housing and residence life, policy inclusion, support and institutional commitment, student life, academic life, campus safety, counseling and health, and recruitment and retention efforts.

After the responses are reviewed, the universities are ranked and given feedback on areas that can be improved.

But those at Campus Climate are not the only ones feeling the love at IU. Students notice the non-biased environment, as well.

“I was never once greeted with hatred or discrimination (at IU),” sophomore Michael Kremer said.

“I think it has a lot to do with how parents raised their children and how the University as a whole promotes diversity.

“Yes, there will still be some skeptics that say gays shouldn’t be allowed to go to college, along with their other ridiculous statements — but never has this University, to my knowledge, discriminated against someone based on their sexuality.”

IU reaches out to those in the Bloomington community through the GLBTSSS Office. There, students can receive support and connect with others in a non-judgmental environment. The office has a library open to the public containing books, magazines and films covering GLBT issues.

“We provide a variety of services to the students, anything from scholarships to counseling,” Bauder said. “Our staff can serve as mentors. They are there to answer questions or just let you in on what fun events are happening in the community.”

The office also pairs up with the other organizations on campus to promote awareness at events like IU’s annual Culture Fest.

“Even though we are not a culture center, it makes our office proud to know that IU supports the work we do and allows us to get involved with the event,” Bauder said. “It’s just really important that students know there is someplace like this on campus.”

IU is even getting involved with nationwide movements, such as the third annual OUT & GREEK National Leadership Conference, which will take place this November in Bloomington.

Because a substantial portion of the student body is involved with greek life, holding the conference in Bloomington gives IU an opportunity to create a safer GLBT experience for students involved in fraternities and sororities, as well as promote campus-wide support for the freedom of gender identity.

“It’s refreshing to know that I can feel safe and welcomed at a university that I love,” Kremer said.