Rutgers Among Top 25 LGBTQ-Friendly Colleges and Universities

This post was submitted by Dory Devlin from Rutgers Today

Rutgers University is one of 25 top colleges and universities working to create an inclusive campus climate for LGBTQ students, according to the 2015 Campus Pride “best of the best” list released (on Monday).

It’s the third year in a row that Rutgers has made the list, based on responses to the Campus Pride Index, a national benchmarking tool that self-assesses LGBTQ-friendly policies, programs and practices. This year’s index was updated to reflect a higher focus on transgender and gender-nonconforming students.

“Many of these campuses are specifically addressing recruitment and academic retention efforts for LGBTQ students, as well as concerns for transgender student safety,” said Shane Windmeyer, executive director of Campus Pride and creator of the index.

Zaneta Rago, director of Rutgers’ Center for Social Justice Education and LGBT Communities, credits support from faculty, administrators, students and alumni from throughout the Rutgers community for Rutgers’ strong showing. “We’ve seen a tremendous increase in requests for education and programmatic collaboration over the last few years,” Rago said. “Our gender-inclusive residential community is thriving, and students are visiting and utilizing our center more and more every semester.”

Campus Pride serves LGBTQ and ally student leaders and campus organizations in the areas of leadership development, support programs and services to create safer, more inclusive LGBTQ-friendly colleges and universities.

One of Rutgers’ first LGBTQ student groups emerged in 1969. The center was founded in 1992, and Rutgers has continued to build support through programs and policies like trans-inclusive student health insurance, a preferred name system, expanded housing options and self-selected LGBTQ markers on enrollment forms for incoming students, Rago said.

“Even with all of these developments, the Campus Pride recognition is a wonderful reminder that there will always be more to accomplish,” she said. This year, she said plans include adding to the preferred name system and working on ways to utilize data to record and improve retention rates for LGBTQ students.

Rago said while Rutgers has much to celebrate, creating an inclusive, supportive climate requires ongoing commitment and diligence. “My hope is that this announcement will also be a call for everyone to seek out further education, improve practices, challenge stereotypes, interrupt and report acts of bias, and reach out to our center for any help needed along the way,” she said.

To be among the Campus Pride Top 25, an institution had to score the highest percentages in the LGBTQ-friendly benchmarks. The listing this year includes public and private colleges with student enrollment from 1,600 to more than 50,000. The Top 25 list, in alphabetical order:

• Cornell University
• Elon University
• Indiana University, Bloomington
• Ithaca College
• Macalester College
• Montclair State University
• Princeton University
• Rutgers University - New Brunswick
• San Diego State University
• Southern Oregon University
• The Ohio State University
• Tufts University
• University of Colorado at Boulder
• University of Louisville
• University of Maine at Machias
• University of Maryland, College Park
• University of Massachusetts, Amherst
• University of Minnesota Twin Cities
• University of Oregon
• University of Pennsylvania
• University of Vermont
• University of Washington