Trial of former Rutgers University student Dharun Ravi highlights crucial responsibility of college and university administrators and staff in keeping LGBT students safe on campus

Campus Pride, the leading national non-profit working to make colleges and universities safer and more inclusive for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) students, today marked the end of the weeks-long trial of former Rutgers University student Dharun Ravi by issuing a call for all colleges to heed the lesson Rutgers officials were forced to learn as tragic events unfolded on their campus and to immediately implement the necessary policies, programs and practices to keep their LGBT students safe.

Ravi, accused of using his webcam to spy on his gay roommate Tyler Clementi during a sexual encounter with an unnamed male partner, was found guilty of several counts of invasion of privacy and guilty of several counts of bias intimidation toward Tyler Clementi, among other charges. The case attracted national attention after Clementi died by suicide in September 2010.

During the trial, details regarding Ravi’s and Clementi’s relationship as roommates and Clementi’s request to Rutgers housing officials for a room change underscored the single most important but least talked about issue since Clementi’s tragic death two years ago: The responsibility of college administrators, faculty and staff to keep their LGBT students safe.

“Though the trial has ended, there are no verdicts, no words and no sentiments that will ever bring Tyler Clementi back to his friends and to his family,” said Shane Windmeyer, executive director of Campus Pride. “Additionally, this trial’s conclusion will not end the daily torment and harassment of LGBT students on college and university campuses across the nation.

"College and university professionals have an obligation to recognize the crucial role and responsibility they have in creating safer environments for LGBT students,” Windmeyer added. “Tragedies can be averted and lives can be saved when students feel safe and accepted and when universities are proactive in their approach to campus climate and the academic success of all students."

Simple and commonsense steps could have prevented Clementi’s suicide. Since his death, Rutgers University has made several steps in bridging the gap between their LGBT students’ needs and the campus’ offered services, but too many colleges refuse to see the consequences of inaction and remain unsafe for LGBT students.

Of more than 4,000 colleges and universities across the U.S., less than 10 percent have opted to voluntarily assess their campus’ policies and practices using the Campus Pride LGBT-Friendly Campus Climate Index (www.campusprideindex.org). Less than seven percent of schools offer institutional support to LGBT students, such as an LGBT student center or programs director. Only 13 percent offer non-discrimination protections on the basis of sexual orientation and just six percent protect students on the basis of gender identity. Only one school, Illinois’ Elmhurst University, asks students demographic questions about sexual orientation and gender identity on its admissions application.

“The mere presence of an LGBT student organization or LGBT-inclusive policies will not make a campus safer for students,” said Windmeyer. “Concrete policy implementation put into immediate practice is necessary – constant work that includes listening to and including the voices of LGBT students and taking decisive and proactive steps to respond to their needs before tragedy occurs, not afterward.”

Campus Pride calls on all colleges and universities to take steps now to fully include LGBT students on their campuses and to create safer, more welcoming environments where LGBT students can grow in their academic careers. Programs and policy implementation – such as anti-discrimination policies, safe and inclusive student conduct codes, gender-neutral housing, LGBT living-learning communities, hate-crime and bias-motivated incident response and LGBT-inclusive healthcare – are not optional.

“University administrators, faculty, campus housing staff and other trained professionals are paid to teach and to keep students safe,” said Windmeyer. “When professionals fail to do their jobs, students are unable to do theirs – to learn and to grow academically – and tragic incidents of suicide, hazing and bias-motivated violence became an all-too-real possibility. No student should ever live in fear for their own safety or struggle to be comfortable with themselves in the face of harassment.”

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