May 28, 2008 News & Views » News Feature

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Recognizing Campus Pride 

Web site gets college administrators' attention

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click to enlarge COURTESY WINDMEYER - CLIMATE CHANGE: Campus Pride's Web sites and leadership camps advocate for college gays.
  • Courtesy Windmeyer

  • CLIMATE CHANGE: Campus Pride's Web sites and leadership camps advocate for college gays.

For gay, lesbian and transgender college students, there is a way to find out if your university is welcoming, friendly and safe.

It's as simple as logging on to the Internet. The Web site, www.campusclimateindex.org, lists several colleges and universities along with a rating system that measures their environment for LGBT students.

Now the site, started by a Charlotte man in September, has a seal of approval from the American College Personnel Association.

The group gave the site its Innovative Response to Social Justice award last month, calling it "trailblazing, and a trusted, insightful measure for colleges and universities across the country."

The site is maintained by Campus Pride, a nonprofit organization started by Charlotte resident Shane Windmeyer, who works to create safer college environments for LGBT students. It has more than 150 schools listed. The campus climate index, the only tool of its kind, ranks schools based on their policies regarding LGBT students.

Windmeyer, Campus Pride's executive director, said the index was established as a response to the increasing demand for tools and resources to support campuses in assessing LGBT-friendly policies, programs and issues.

"There are many challenges that still face college campuses when it comes to gay, lesbian and transgender issues," he said. "Many campuses here in North Carolina and South Carolina have yet to recognize student groups on their campuses that are gay-straight alliances."

There are only three N.C. schools listed on the index, which is the same number listed from this state when the site started 10 months ago. Those schools are: North Carolina State University, Appalachian State University and the University of North Carolina-Greensboro.

It's free to be included on the index, Windmeyer said. Once researchers who run the site get statistics from school staff, the results are analyzed and posted.

"Our index is all about giving voice and giving action to these student leaders who are gay and straight. Sometimes we forget that straight students may have a gay family member and when they are looking at colleges they want a place that is welcoming to their family member," Windmeyer said. "These issues transcends beyond just the gay student too."

Some schools, like UNC-Charlotte, UNC-Chapel Hill and Duke are quite progressive, he said. "But regionally [and] throughout the country there are places where we've made a lot of progress but even in some of those states where we've made a lot of progress there are still those campuses that are far behind in recognizing the value of the gay students or the gay faculty on their campus."

Windmeyer said that of the more than 2,000 public and private colleges and universities in the country, only 600 have sexual orientation written into their nondiscrimination policy.

"Most people would think that college campuses are liberal and open-minded and are the best place to be. If that's the case then at least 50 percent of them should have basic nondiscrimination polices that include sexual orientation and that's not the case," he said.

The campus climate index is about changing policies and bringing awareness to college campuses. Highlighting the importance of both gay and straight people in a college community prepares students for the real world and diversity in the work place, Windmeyer said.

"To say there shouldn't be any type of gay club or gay events on campus is really like saying we really shouldn't have any type of diversity on campus," he said. "No longer can anyone say that 'I don't know anyone gay,' because gay people are everywhere."

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