Campus Pride - Campus Pride

Building Future Leaders & Safer, More LGBTQ-Friendly Colleges and Universities Since 2001

Campus Visit Scorecard for LGBT Students & Their Families

The time has come for the ultimate test – the campus visit. It’s time to discover for yourself just how LGBT-friendly and progressive your top campus choices are. Whether or not your campus is listed on the Campus Pride Index, you must still put the campus through your own personal test and ask all your questions. To make your campus visit easier, you can easily grade and compare campuses with this nifty LGBT-friendly scorecard. Simply be sure to collect the necessary information during the campus visit to completely answer the questions. Then after all your campus visits, you can tally up your scorecards and see what campus ends up on top.

Name of college/university:

  1. High number of out LGBT students?
  2. High number of out LGBT faculty/staff?
  3. High number of visible LGBT allies?
  4. Significant number of LGBT social events?
  5. Significant number of LGBT educational events?
  6. Visible signs/symbols of LGBT support on campus?
  7. LGBT and ally student organization?
  8. LGBT resource center/office funded by campus?
  9. LGBT Pride Week/Coming Out Week?
  10. Variety of LGBT studies/courses?
  11. Safe Zone/Safe Space or Ally program?
  12. LGBT student scholarships available?
  13. Nondiscrimination policy inclusive of sexual orientation?
  14. Nondiscrimination policy inclusive of gender identity/expression?
  15. Same-sex domestic partner benefits available?
  16. LGBT-inclusive housing options/themes?
  17. LGBT-inclusive health services/testing?
  18. LGBT-inclusive counseling/support groups?
  19. Procedure for reporting LGBT bias, harassment, and hate crimes?
  20. First-Year experience/orientation program inclusive of LGBT issues?
  21. *
  22. *
  23. *
  24. *
  25. *

Fill in the * with five of your LGBT-friendly questions to look for on campus. Decide what’s most important to ask for your perfect campus choice to measure up. Such questions might include the following:

  • Visible LGBT students of color?
  • Visible trans-identified individuals?
  • LGBT student of color organizations?
  • LGBT-sensitive fraternities and sororities?
  • LGBT-sensitive religious and spiritual organizations?
  • M to F and F to M support services for trans students?

Once you’ve finished, it’s time to score. Tally up the number of Yes responses and learn the results of your campus visit.

19+ YES RESPONSES: Most LGBT-friendly campus; definitely a worthy contender.

10-18 YES RESPONSES: More than likely LGBT-friendly or at least on the path to being LGBT-friendly, but has apparent areas for improvement, still worthy of further consideration.

1-9 YES RESPONSES: Lacks LGBT-friendly criteria and warrants more research before consideration.

FRIENDLY REMINDER

Here are some “Not So Queer questions to ask:

  • Learn more about the application process and deadlines. Is an essay or interview necessary?
  • Are there testing requirements, such as ACT/SAT?
  • Find our about financial aid process and deadlines.

FINAL QUEER TIP:

Choose if and how you want to come out as LGBT. Some students may want to do this in the application process in response to the essay question, or during the campus visit. Keep in mind that you never know if the individual(s) involved with these processes are LGBT-friendly. But, if that is a concern or becomes an issue, you may want to think twice about going there anyway. It’s always your choice!