Join nearly 100 LGBTQ-friendly colleges at the upcoming Campus Pride college fairs this October & November

Nearly 100 LGBTQ-friendly colleges and universities have registered to attend the nine Campus Pride LGBTQ-Friendly college fairs happening coast-to-coast and online.

By attending the Campus Pride LGBTQ-Friendly College Fairs, campuses are coming out as LGBTQ-friendly. An increasing number of colleges and universities are openly recruiting LGBTQ students, highlighting the programs, policies and practices LGBTQ students need. The campuses attending these college fairs understand the value of their LGBTQ students, and want to promote and uplift these students. These campuses are working on important and necessary programs for their LGBTQ students such as active LGBTQ student organizations, LGBTQ-specific scholarships, inclusive healthcare policies and simplified name changing policies.

Check out the colleges and universities attending the Campus Pride LGBTQ-Friendly College Fairs as of September 19, 2015 below! (Listed in alphabetical order).

Increasingly, LGBTQ students, their families and their allies are actively seeking campuses that they can guarantee will be a safe and welcoming environment for themselves and their peers. When a campus attends a Campus Pride LGBTQ-Friendly college fair, they are showing that the LGBTQ community is a group they respect and will work hard to provide with a safe and welcoming environment. This can mean the difference between a student having access to the tools they need to be truly successful and a student being in an environment that does not validate who they are or what they need.

Many of the campuses featured at the college fairs are listed on the Campus Pride Index, a national listing of LGBTQ-friendly colleges and universities. The campuses listed on the Index are rated for their ability to fully understand the needs of their LGBTQ students. This index is the only one of its kind, and the benchmarks it sets have become a national standard for campuses that want to become safer and more welcoming for its LGBTQ students. The Index, which was upgraded in Summer 2015 to include higher benchmarks for LGBTQ-friendliness, has over 200 campuses listed for free for students and families to explore before attending the college fairs.

The Campus Pride LGBTQ-Friendly College Fair kicked off its eighth season at the Charlotte, N.C., in partnership with Charlotte Pride. The fair, which featured 12 college and university campuses and representatives from Campus Pride and the Point Foundation, reached hundreds of prospective LGBTQ students and their families.

Throughout the school year, Campus Pride will host seven more college fairs in Roanoke, Va.; Boston; Los Angeles; Washington; Atlanta; Vancouver, Wash.; New York and Chicago. If you can’t make it to those physical locations, Campus Pride will host an online college fair on March 17, 2016. Overall, the nine college fairs will have over 150 attendees, with several of the 100 unique campuses attending two or more college fairs in order to maximize their visibility to LGBTQ students, their families and their allies.

Other sponsors of the Campus Pride LGBTQ-Friendly College Fairs include Roanoke Pride, BAGLY, Atlanta Pride, Models of Pride, Teach for America, Washington State University Vancouver and the YES Program of the NY LGBT Community Center.

For more information on times, locations and attending colleges of all nine college fairs, visit our college fair website. The page will be updated weekly as more colleges and universities register to attend.

Is your campus missing from the list? There is still time for campuses to register to attend the college fairs. If you are a campus representative that wants to register, visit our college fair registration website for more information. Discounted rates are available for those who register early.

If you are a campus representative interested in becoming listed on the Campus Pride Index, create your account at the Campus Pride Index for approval. If you have any questions regarding the Campus Pride LGBTQ-Friendly College Fair or the Campus Pride Index, contact info@campuspride.org or call the office at (704) 277-6710.

Campus Pride freelance writer Allison Marie Turner, an alumnus of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, contributed to this article. Follow her on Twitter @amturner1993.

Campus Pride is the leading national educational organization for LGBTQ and ally college students and campus groups building future leaders and safer, more LGBTQ-friendly colleges and universities. The organization provides resources and services to thousands of college students and nearly 1400 campuses annually. Learn more online at CampusPride.org.