Gay Friendly Colleges

[Saena]

As a high school student preparing to go to college in a couple of years, I have been examining different aspects of different colleges/universities, wondering which to apply to. One of the things I was wondering about but that may or may not be readily accessible information, is which colleges have a strong gay/straight alliance or program on campus, something they support and like? I am a straight person, but being a member of one of these groups is a priority for me, and would be one of the first things I did when I got started at college.



So for those of you who have gone to college or are currently enrolled: do you know of any colleges with a good program of this kind that you would recommend? I would like to have this information while choosing good schools.



Thanks!



Saena

[sprhrgrl]

Here's something - review.com ranks things by talking to students and then creates funny little lists. They have one about the gays. . . I'd suggest getting an account because then it does let you see them all and it's a really good resource.



Three of the six schools I applied to were on that list - NYU, Wesleyan, Sarah Lawrence. Then there was Barnard, which fell pretty close. . . I also applied to two of Washington State's schools; Western Washington University where my friend goes and says is good but is in a pretty conservative town, and The Evergreen State College. I ended up choosing Evergreen for myself because it's very liberal in general, and has a program that's great, but not the norm in university formatting.



If I were you, I'd do what I didn't (or something), looking in state to see what resources you have there. Where are you from?

sprhrgrl.com

she's my everything

racism=sexism=homophobia

The truth shall set you free, but first it will piss you off. - Gloria Steinem

[La]

My college was great, Vassar College. At Vassar, sexual orientation was more like an afterthought. It would have taken me much longer to realize that I was a lesbian if I'd gone somewhere more conservative. The GSA is also big and well-respected, though I never was a member (just not my thing). There's a "how many [insert person here] does it take to screw in a lightbulb" joke that I heard in the first few months I was there:



How many Vassar students does it take to screw a lightbulb?

Eleven. One to screw the lightbulb and ten to support his/her sexual orientation.

~La



-But they are-are naked!

-Naturally! It's much too dangerous to jump through fire with your clothes on!"

~Lord Summerisle to Sergeant Howie in The Wicker Man, in regards to women jumping over a bonfire during on May Day

[GiftofAmber]

In our area, Seton Hill (pennsylvania) was known as the lesbian college. Supposedly even straight women are four year lesbians there. *shrugs* I had a friend who went there, and she said it was very open and accepting.

[BBOvenGuy]

The University of Texas is very gay-friendly, as is the city of Austin in general. I know that might be hard to believe in light of today's Supreme Court decision, but a lesbian friend of mine just finished her junior year there, and her gf just finished her sophomore year, and they both love the place. Go figure.

"The first task of anyone, lest you get canceled, is to entertain people, because they ain't there for message." - Dick Wolf

[WiccansIllusion]

from word of mouth:



Brown is very gay friendly.



also Mt Holyoke ( a friend went there )

"It hurts sometimes more than we can bear. If we can live without cheese, maybe we'd know some kind of peace. But we would be hollow. Empty rooms, shuttered and dank. Without Cheese, we'd be truly dead."- Angel on the Passions of Cheese

[SySnootles]

Although I went there for only one year, the University of Wisconsin at Madison is very GLBT friendly. Be forwarned -- it can get kinda cold in the winter months (October-April).

[Aradia785]

It all depends on where you are. You can find a gay friendly college in any timezone, any part of the country. Just depends where you happen to be. When I applied, I applied to NYU, UCLA, UCSF, Trinity, and KU. Ended up going to KU because it would cost the least for me. So, if you happen to be stuck in the midwest, KU is all sorts of fun. There's a joke around here: Two schools, K-Straight (K-State) and GayU (KU). Its not so much of a joke though.



Also, http://www.planetout.com did a survey about the most gay friendly colleges in the states. It might be of help, check it out.



Have fun! Do a college visit or two, let us know how it goes!



Ann

If I hear that Gong of Doom I will send stoned squirrels to raid your kitchen
- Lisa of Nine

Operation Free MyRack! Who wants to join the coalition of the willing?

[Amymlc]

I go to a private little university called Chapman University in Orange County, California, and it seems like more than half the population is gay there.



There's only something like 3400 students, but you'd never know that because everyone is so active there. I like it a lot better than I did The University of Arizona.

[Ittybittykitty]

UVM and Johnson State are friendly...so is Salem State (also called "Seldom Straight"). Smith is too and from what I hear it's a very Provincetown-type atmosphere.

"Well, if you blew a hundred bucks, we'd better make it worth your while," Tara said dragging Willow back into the laundry room and closing the door.-Happily Ever After

[Saena]

For those of you who have asked, I live in Maryland, so all of the college campuses I have visited have been in MD or in Pennsylvania. Of course, I am open to all suggestions, as I would gladly consider going to school out of the area.



I was happy to hear that NYU was a school that you mentioned- it's my sister's college of choice. She doesn't know what she wants to study when she gets there, but she knows she wants to go there!

[ramblinrose11]

I go to Wells College in Aurora, NY. Its a small all womens liberal arts college. I think just about every girl is gay or at least bisexual. Anyway, its very gay friendly. I think its a lesbian school.

[Big Dummy]

I went to Wesleyan University in CT, and it was great! It's a medium-sized liberal arts college, and it holds a fairly large weekly thing every year called BGLAD. They always make cool t-shirts to go along with the theme for that year. They have special-interest housing for lots of groups, one of them being a queer house. I think it's even called Queer House or something like that. They also teach a Queer Theory course, the main text being a big blue book I'm sure some are familiar with called the Lesbian and Gay Studies Reader. One of the authors is the professor for that course. Lots of different groups as well, special films, a dance, the Chaplain and the Rabbi on campus are a gay man and a lesbian respectively. It's just a cool frickin' school.

[unionjill30]

Indiana University has always been very gay friendly. Bloomington is typically referred to as the Gay Mecca of Indiana in small circles. And I always wondered why my mother wouldn't let me go there.

This is the starting of a brand new revolution. Bite the hand that feeds. Stand up and fight against the messages that they're sending… stop their frequency. You're always talking. It's never ending. It's about time that we turn off the radio. Call the request lines and tell them that it's over. You're always playing all of the same songs over and over again. It's about time we all turned off the radio. Look outside your FM dial. They're preaching lies in 4/4 time. A generation without a voice and stripped of pride.

[lauriebear]

I'll have to second that, Wesleyan University totally rocks. They are very progressive and socially active. Though I didn't go there. I currently live close by.



I had the unfortunate experience of going to the University of CT, that isn't too accepting of anybody....unless of course you're a frat boy.

[xita]

I have to plug for UC Berkeley being so close to San Francisco was of course a plus. But Berkeley and Oakland have huge lesbian populations. Certainly the entire campus is very gay friendly. I had a blast there in terms of that and everything else really!

-----------------------------------
blonk, blink, blong

[Dax]

Stanford was also good for similar reasons, close to the City, progressive population...

[sprhrgrl]

I'd say Berkley over Stanford, though - not that I'm trying to start any arguments, but Stanford felt very stifled when I visited there, even though there was a huge sign welcoming The Gays. . . Whereas when I visited Berkeley, the same day, I was handed a nice pink pamphlet called "being queer at Cal" or something, and it was all good. Plus, it's less rural around Berkeley and such.



My girlfriend goes to Earlham College, in Richmond IN. . . It's a Quaker school, so it's nice and liberal. She's also mentioned Antioch University, I think, in Yellow Springs (uhh, I don't remember what state) as being liberal - pretty punky, she said. I haven't heard any stellar comments about IU, where her best friend goes, but who knows.



I would suggest, once you narrow down your choices, trying to find online diaries of people similar to you who go to the schools. It can be an interesting experience. I found a queer friendly girl going to my school who was not only just as pudgy as I am (hah), but also went through the same experience of the International Baccalaureate program, and came out with a similar point of view against it. I've learned a lot about it from that.



Generally all womens' schools are going to be queer. Always something to remember. (grin) Unless they're Catholic. And even then. . .

sprhrgrl.com

she's my everything

racism=sexism=homophobia

The truth shall set you free, but first it will piss you off. - Gloria Steinem

Edited by: sprhrgrl  at: 7/3/03 4:30 pm

[slayer747]

i guess i'm fortunate enough to study in a university where people respect each other no matter what. well, of course, there still exist some bigots here in the University of the Philippines, but generally, it's gay-freidly. we have the first and only lesbian org in the whole country.

"part of forever is better than none"

[Dax]

Since I attended Stanford, my experience may be different from just visiting the campus. The student body is more conservative at Stanford but the faculty is beyond progressive. When I was there it was so cool to be lesbian that straight girls pretended they were gay (which could get a little confusing at times). Stanford is a much more contained community whereas Berkeley is huge and more integrated into the town. Over eighty percent of the population at Stanford live on campus and probably less than twenty percent live on campus in Berkeley. While I was at Stanford, one of the "dorms" I lived in was known as the unofficial gay theme house so my experience was very queer and very queer friendly. The professors were very out and so it way easy to be out myself. On top of it, Stanford has a campus in Berlin and lots and lots of queer folks took a semester over there - as did I.



I'm sure lots of people would have a different experience but on the gay thing, I found Stanford a very easy and fun queer place.

[RosenbergLover]

Aradia, when you said KU, did you mean Kentucky University ? My unlce lives down in that neighborhood. I should go there in about 4 years.

[Saena]

I like the Wesleyan idea. I think I liked it when I was reading about it once and highlighted it as one to check out. Unfortunately, I can't find the publication I was looking at, so I'll have to get back to you on that.

[cattwoman98111]

Well, as i grew up and currently live in Wa State very close to The Evergreen State College, i would have to agree w/ sprhgrl about that school, it is situated in what us Washingtonians like to call the Lesbian Capital of the state. next on my list would be Seattle Central, then Western Washington, im not sure that the Greeners have a GSA but it is very open and diverse in Olympia, while it is the capital of the state it is not what you would expect in a city holding that honor, it is pretty relaxed, has some traffic (nothing like my hometown of Seattle) and if you like wmns rugby, they have a team as well(a good friend is on it)

if you like woman driven organisations, they have one in Olympia called Safe Place, i have a friend who volunteers for them and has nothing but good things to say, they help abused woman and children relocate among other things. anyway if you have any questions about the schools here in Washington let me know and i may be able to help ya. however i will be relocating in September so ask away before then.

Good Luck,

Jenn



I want it. Give it to me. I love it. 7-Year Bitch

[DarkChild]

I'm still in the questioning stage but the time has come to seriously start filling out college applications (Senior Now!) and I want to go to a college with a good gay community. I'm looking mostly at colleges in Maryland since my financial state isn't to great (I made a rhyme)

Any suggestions would be great.

[dorksrcool]

I know this doesn't help DarkChild looking for a school in Maryland, but I had to put a plug in for my almamater (or however you spell it) Mills College in Oakland, CA. Mills is a women's college and it freakin' rocked! I would not be the person I am today without that wonderful school. Check out their website at http://www.mills.edu if you want to research further. I came from a small town in Wyoming and my Mills experience certainly helped me become more comfortable with my gay identity.

[willowandtarafan21]

Alright I gotta stick my two cents in here as well... I just graduated this May from a small private school. Someone here already mentioned that all women schools are crawling with lesbians and stuff which I must say is true in my experience when I was looking into colleges but like that person said also even when they're Catholic oriented it can be true. This information comes first hand considering I went to a small private liberal arts college here in NY called The College of New Rochelle (CNR) which is a very openminded school and swarming with acceptance. Its about a 36 minute train ride on the metro to Grand Central which was nice also considering theres alot of gay friendly activity in the city you can connect with. Everyone used to joke that CNR stood for Condoms Not Required... Anyway, its small but nice and friendly.

[tybee317]

Hi RosenbergLover, I believe that KU is the University of Kansas in Lawrence, home of the Jayhawks!

[Morganlafay]

I'm in the college search too. Smith College is by far the most lesbian friendly school I've visited. Of course it's an all girls school in Mass, so that just might influence it. And it's in the town of NorthHampton, which is considered the lesbian capital of the US, so what's not to love. I've never seen so many lesbian couples in one place. And Mt Holyoke College is just 10 minutes away, so there are plenty of girls around! Both schools are also very intellectually stimulating and offer amazing oportunities. I'm applying to both and crossing my fingers!
good luck with everyone's college process,
~Morgan

[ambersagoddess]

I'm a junior this year and people won't get off my case about getting into college and stuff.

So I've been looking into good film schools in the NY and LA areas, places where movie oprotunites are the highest.

I've taken a real interest in the New York Film Academy, but that'd mean venturing out into society to find a GLBT club of sorts, and I'm not one for random street wandering in strange places.

Big supportive GLBT populations are important to me and make me feel warm and fuzzy. I need to do some more school searching.

-Rei

[tif]

Here in my country (Philippines) it would be safe to say that there's a don't-ask-don't-tell policy going on within different campuses EXCEPT in UP.

One of the best things about the University of the Philippines is that it values so much the freedom and rights of individuals that they don't impose any restrictions to its students when they want to express themselves in terms of organizations or affiliations. UP is the only school in this country with a LGTB organization that is honoured by the institution. And yep, I am so glad that I belong in this university.