Another gay teenager has committed suicide at an American college. Corey Jackson, a 19-year-old student at Oakland University in Rochester, Mich., was found dead in a wooded area near campus. Police say he hanged himself on Tuesday, Oct. 19.

The Michigan Messenger reports that police say bullying was not a factor in Johnson's death. They spoke to Melissa Pope, director of Oakland University's Gender and Sexuality Center, who addressed the larger issue of general treatment toward LGBT people:

We must look beyond the term “bullying” to the overall treatment of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) community to begin to grasp the long-standing epidemic of suicide among our LGBT youth.

While the national press has picked up this issue over the last two months, we have been losing high numbers of LGBT youth to suicide for decades. In recent years, we’ve labeled the cause as bullying. But the root cause goes deeper – it goes to the very core of our society that discriminates against the LGBT community on all levels, including the denial of basic human rights that are supposed to belong to every person.

As I sit with the students who regularly visit the Oakland University Gender and Sexuality Center, including the newer members of our community, drawn to the Center for affirmation and support, I am confident that these individuals know they are loved and accepted for who they are. My greater concern is the hundreds of students, faculty and staff who do not come to the Center. Those who are afraid to come out – perhaps even to themselves – for fear of the persecution they will suffer. My greatest hope is that those who feel isolated reach out to resources like the GSC to discover they are not alone. We are here to listen and offer support.

In the nearly two months of sustained, national media coverage on the issue of gay teen suicide, Campus Pride has several times spoken out on issues of campus safety and inclusion for both high schoolers and especially students at institutions of higher education. We've applauded Dan Savage's "It Gets Better" campaign, but have been dismayed by many statements from community members and celebrities alike that life somehow "gets better" once a student travels to college. We have stressed that, many times, life does not magically "get better" on college and university campuses, and tragedies such as Rutgers' Tyler Clementi, Johnson & Wales' Raymond Chase and Oakland's Jackson prove this.

In order for life to get better, we must make it better, and university administrators across the nation must take concrete actions to make their campus learning and living environments safer for students. Sadly, as shown by results from the 2010 State of Higher Education for LGBT People, many colleges and universities have yet to take these actions and many students, faculty and staff continue to feel the sting of anti-LGBT discrimination, prejudice and harassment in their working environments, classrooms, dorms, athletic fields and elsewhere.

Campus Pride encourages administrators at institutions of higher education to learn more about how they can create safer learning environments for their students by participating in the LGBT-Friendly Campus Climate Index, the most comprehensive review and scale of effective policies, practices and procedures that will ensure inclusive and welcoming campuses and equal opportunity for all students.