Charlotte, Chicago, Boston, Los Angeles, Dallas and New York slated to host LGBT-friendly college recruiting program now in its sixth year

Campus Pride, the nation’s leading educational organization for student leaders and campus groups working to create a safer college environment for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) students, announced today the line-up for its sixth-annual National LGBT-Friendly College Fair Program (www.campusprideindex.org/events/), providing LGBT students the opportunity to learn more about LGBT-friendly colleges and universities as they embark on their collegiate academic careers.

For the first time, the college fair tour will expand into Dallas, Texas. The new Dallas event, hosted in partnership with Youth First Texas, offers increased visibility for southern schools and new opportunities for more LGBT and ally students across the South to interact with their potential alma maters. The Dallas fair, slated for Oct. 18, is the second tour stop in the South, following Campus Pride’s Charlotte, N.C., stop on Aug. 25, just one weekend before the kick-off to the Democratic National Convention to be held in there the first week in September.

Other stops in the 2011-2012 National LGBT-Friendly College Fair Program include Chicago (Oct. 6), Boston (Oct. 11), Los Angeles (Oct. 13) and New York (Nov. 2). A full list of college fair stops, locations and times can be found online at www.campusprideindex.org/events/.

The event is open to the public and free for attendees.

Colleges and universities can register to participate at the unique recruiting event for special early-bird rates of $195 (regular $250). Registration deadlines vary according to event date. Institutions that register for all six fairs by Friday, Aug. 10, receive one fair registration free, a savings of $195. Learn more and register online at www.campusprideindex.org/events/.

The Fall 2012 LGBT-Friendly National College Fair Program is hosted in tandem with the organization’s LGBT-Friendly Campus Climate Index (www.CampusPrideIndex.org), the nation’s premier benchmarking and assessment tool for determining LGBT safety and inclusion on college and university campuses. In addition, Campus Pride has partnered with several organizations to present the fair in each locale, including Chicago’s The Center on Halstead, Boston’s Friends of GLBT Youth, Inc., the Boston Alliance of Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual & Transgender Youth (BAGLY), the LA Gay & Lesbian Center’s Models of Pride and the YES Program of the New York LGBT Community Center.

Campus Pride is excited to partner with the It Gets Better Project in promoting gay columnist and project founder Dan Savage's It Gets Better college tour across the U.S.

One of the most important things Campus Pride has learned in our more than 10 years of work with LGBTQ and ally college and university students is that life for queer youth doesn't just get better once they leave high school and go to college. Young people across the U.S. are taking the It Gets Better message to heart and are taking a stand on their campuses each and every day to create a better world for themselves, their peers, their communities and for future generations. Many high school students just beginning their higher education are choosing to attend colleges and universities that actively include and support LGBT students, by utilizing resources like Campus Pride's Campus Climate Index.

We're proud that Dan will be embarking on his college tour and reaching out to LGBTQ and ally young people in higher education, as well as other venues. Many of the issues faced by LGBT students in high school are also faced by those in college, whether it's continued social or religious pressure from parents or harassment and discrimination from fellow students or college officials. And, contrary to popular belief, not all colleges are LGBT-friendly. For example, did you know (from our 2010 State of Higher Education for LGBT People):

• Less than seven percent of accredited U.S. colleges and universities offer institutional support to LGBTQ and ally students, such as safe space/ally programming, LGBTQ faculty advisors or staff and LGBTQ student centers or facilities?
• Only 13 percent of colleges and universities include sexual identity policy protections?
• Just six percent of colleges and universities include gender identity and expression protections?

The inspiration Dan Savage brings to college and university campuses he will visit -- including those he's already visited, such as the College of William and Mary and the University of North Texas -- will uplift students who are still in the closet, empower those who are seeking positive change and help to shape more inclusive campus environments -- proving, indeed, that it does get better!

It Gets Better Tour Dates

2/16/12 Canisius College - Buffalo, NY
2/29/12 Clairemont McKenna College - Clairemont, CA
3/2/12 National Assn. of Independent Schools - Seattle, WA
3/6/12 University of Kentucky - Lexington, KY
3/7/12 Butler University - Indianapolis, IN
3/10/12 American Civil Liberties Union - Portland, OR
3/19/12 University of Pennsylvania - Philadelphia, PA
3/20/12 American University - Washington D.C.
3/21/12 Lynn University - Boca Raton, FL
3/22/12 University of Western Ontario - Ontario, CANADA
4/13/12 National HS Journalism Convention - Seattle, WA
4/17/12 Bryant University - Smithfield, RI
4/18/12 Bowling Green University - Bowling Green, OH
4/19/12 Univ. of Vermont - Burlington, VT
4/20/12 Washington Library Association - Edmonds, WA
4/29/12 Elmhurst College - Elmhurst, IL
4/30/12 University of the Ozarks - Clarksville, AK
6/23/12 American School Counselor Assn. Annual Meeting / Minneapolis, MN
7/12/12 University Church of Christ - Cleveland, OH
11/3/12 U.C. Berkeley - Berkeley, CA

In addition to Savage's It Gets Better Tour, MTV and Logo have partnered to present the It Gets Better TV special featuring three young people and their stories. The special will air on both TV networks next Tuesday, Feb. 21, 11 p.m. Eastern. See the trailer below...

Campus Pride has confirmed that IN THE LIFE TV will be at our LGBT-Friendly College Fair on April 9 at the L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center. The program will be featuring LGBT youth finding safe, welcoming campuses. In addition, The Chronicle of Higher Education will also be sending a reporter to the Fair to do an exclusive on LGBT recruitment efforts by colleges and universities.

"This is a fair that prospective students/families, as well as colleges and universities across the nation will not want to miss," says Shane Windmeyer, Campus Pride executive director.

Campus Pride will also be giving a FREE registration (18+ or older) to our Camp Pride, this year's Campus Pride Summer Leadership Camp held this July in Nashville, Tenn.

Learn more about the L.A. LGBT-Friendly College Fair...

Learn more about Camp Pride...

Please note: You must be 18+ or older or permission must be granted in order to be filmed and to attend camp.

Workshops, LGBT-friendly College fair among efforts to create safer, more inclusive college campuses; List of U.S. colleges and universities in attendance grows

HOLLYWOOD,Calif. -- Campus Pride, the nation’s leading non-profit working to create safer, more LGBT-inclusive colleges and build future LGBT and ally leaders, is proud to announce the datefor its first Spring 2011 LGBT-Friendly College Fair, to be held at the L.A.Gay & Lesbian Center in collaboration with LifeWorks, the Center’s LGBT youth development and mentoring program, University of Southern California's LGBT Resource Center and the GSA Network.

The event, the fourth in the program’s five-stop 2010-11 tour, will take place on Saturday, April 9 at the Center’s Village at Ed Gould Plaza, 1125 N. McCadden Place, Los Angeles, CA 90038. The event begins with a welcome at 1:30p.m. and ends at 5 p.m with special featured entertainment. The day also includes workshops and other learning opportunities related to scholarships, financial aid, the college search process and more.

Open and free to current or prospective college students and families, the event will bring together a diverse array of colleges and universities that welcome LGBT students at their campuses.

“The schools at our West Coastcollege fair in Los Angeles understand what it takes to create a truly welcoming, safe and inclusive campus for LGBT students, and they’re working to make it happen,” says Shane Windmeyer, executive director and founder of Campus Pride. “In light of last fall’s string of gay youth suicides, widely reported across the mainstream media, these schools’ participation in the fair is a welcome sign of change for LGBT young people.”

Among the schools and organizations participating: Emerson College, Mueller College, San Diego State University, University of Arizona, University of Rochester, Columbia College Chicago, California Institute of Integral Studies, Indiana University Purdue University - Indianapolis, Vanderbilt University, University of Pennsylvania, Mount Holyoke College, Michigan State University, The Art Institutes, Carleton College, University of The Princeton Review, Carleton College, Syracuse University, The University of Iowa, The Trevor Project, SAT/The College Board and The Point Foundation.
Colleges and universities can still register for the event. For more information and to register, visit www.CampusClimateIndex.org/events.

This season, Campus Pride’s LGBT-Friendly College Fair visited Charlotte, N.C., Portland, Ore., New York, N.Y., and Boston, Mass. For more information on the fairs, other events, the LGBT-Friendly Campus Climate Index and more, visit www.CampusClimateIndex.org or www.CampusPride.org.

Campus Pride, the nation’s leading non-profit working to create safer, more LGBT-inclusive colleges and build future LGBT and ally leaders, is proud to announce the dates for its LGBT-Friendly College Fairs in New York City and Boston.

The New York City event is the third in the program’s five-stop 2010-11 tour. It will be held on Nov. 5 at the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Community Center, 208 W. 13th St., New York, NY 10011, 4 p.m.-6 p.m. The event is in partnership with the Youth Enrichment Services (YES) Program of the Center. It is free to current or prospective college students and this year will bring together nearly three dozen colleges and universities who seek to recruit out LGBT and ally students to their campuses.

“The schools at our New York City college fair understand what it takes to create a truly welcoming, safe and inclusive campus for LGBT students, and they’re working to make it happen,” says Shane Windmeyer, executive director and founder of Campus Pride. “In light of the string of gay youth suicides reported this fall, these schools’ participation in the fair is a show of support and a welcome sign of change.”

Among the schools participating: American Academy of Dramatic Arts, Binghamton University, Bucknell University, Carleton College, Columbia College Chicago, Columbia University in the City of New York, Dartmouth College, Davidson College, Drexel University, Elon University, Emory University, Eugene Lang College, Harvard College, Indiana University Bloomington, Ithaca College, Indiana University Purdue University-Indianapolis, Marlboro College, Marymount Manhattan College, Michigan State University, Penn State University, Rutgers University, St. Lawrence University, SUNY Potsdam, Syracuse University, The Sage Colleges, Trinity College, Tufts University, Union College, University of Pennsylvania, University of Richmond, University of Rochester, Vanderbilt University, Vassar College and William Paterson University.

Colleges and universities can still register for the event. For more information and to register, visit www.CampusClimateIndex.org/events.

The event also includes workshops and other learning opportunities. Organizations participating include EqualApp, Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network, Point Foundation and Trevor Project. Campus Pride executive director Shane Windmeyer will speak.

Campus Pride’s LGBT-Friendly College Fair will also stop in Boston on Nov. 6. The fourth stop in the tour, the Boston fair will also feature educational workshops and speakers. The event, planned in partnership with The Boston Alliance of GLBT Youth (BAGLY) and Friends of GLBT Youth, Inc., will be held 1 p.m.- 4:30 p.m. at City Year Boston's Headquarters, 287 Columbus Avenue, Boston, MA.

For more information and to learn more about Campus Pride's LGBT-Friendly Campus Climate Index, visit www.CampusClimateIndex.org.

Photo via WallyG, Flickr.

About a week-and-a-half ago, we blogged about the tremendous support North Carolina-area colleges were giving to the LGBT-Friendly College Fair to be held in collaboration with Pride Charlotte and Time Out Youth on Oct. 2. Well, other colleges and universities haven't let us down. Go Carolinas (and all the other Southeastern colleges, too)! Keep 'em coming!

We've extended the early registration rates for both the Charlotte fair (Oct. 2) and the Portland fair (Oct. 6) until Sept. 28!

Don't miss your chance to take advantage of lowered rates and reach out to meet potential LGBT students for your educational institution. Get more info and register: www.campusclimateindex.org/events/

Registered for the Charlotte fair thus far:
Davidson College
Warren Wilson College
Columbia College Chicago
Guilford College
Syracuse University
UNC Charlotte
Washington and Lee University
North Carolina State University
IUPUI
Vanderbilt University
Appalachian State University
Elon University

And, for Portland:
Columbia College Chicago
Vanderbilt University
Western Washington Univ
Fairhaven College
Bucknell University
IUPUI
Washington State University
Oregon State University
Portland Community College
Whitman College
University of Oregon
Southern Oregon University

We're three weeks out from Campus PRide's first LGBT-Friendly College Fair ever held in the Southeast, and North Carolina colleges are stepping up.

Along with Nashville's Vanderbilt University and Chicago's Columbia College, six North Carolina schools have signed up for spaces at the LGBT-Friendly College Fair: Warren Wilson College, Guilford College, UNC Charlotte, North Carolina State University, Appalachian State University and Elon University.

The Fair, held in collaboration with Time Out Youth and the Lesbian & Gay Community Center, will be held on Oct. 2 during the Pride Charlotte festival at the N.C. Music Factory.

For more information, check out our release from last week...

Are you a college or university staff member interested in getting your campus at the Fair? Jump on the bandwagon quick! Our special $195 early bird rate ends Sept. 14. Learn more...

Photo: Pride Charlotte 2008. Credit: Willamor Media, via Flickr, licensed under Creative Commons.

National LGBT-Friendly College Fair to be held Oct. 2 in coordination with Pride Charlotte, in partnership with Time Out Youth and Lesbian & Gay Community Center of Charlotte

(Charlotte, N.C.) – Campus Pride is pleased to announce the historic first stop in its 2010-11 LGBT-Friendly College Fair, a program now in its fourth year connecting LGBT students and their parents to LGBT-friendly colleges and universities across the country.

Campus Pride, a national non-profit working to create safer, more LGBT-inclusive colleges and build future LGBT and ally leaders, will hold its first 2010-11 LGBT-Friendly College Fair in Charlotte, N.C., on Oct. 2, Noon -3:30 p.m., at The NC Music Factory. The event, held in collaboration with the annual Pride Charlotte festival, Time Out Youth and the Lesbian & Gay Community Center of Charlotte, marks the first time the College Fair program has visited the Southeastern U.S. and the first time it will be held in conjunction with a Pride festival.

“Our LGBT-Friendly College Fair’s event in Charlotte presents a unique opportunity for Carolinas and Southeastern students, families and universities,” said Shane Windmeyer, executive director of Campus Pride. “Prospective students want to attend campuses that are a welcoming and safe place to learn, live and grow. Our Fair’s presence in the Southeast will help students there find LGBT-friendly colleges from across the country.”

Last year, Campus Pride made a commitment to grow attendance at the Fair by partnering strategically with local LGBT and ally youth organizations as well as hosting in more progressive metropolitan “queer meccas” of LGBT activism – New York, Los Angles and Boston. That commitment continues this year with the Fair’s first stop in Charlotte and a later stop in Portland, Ore., on Oct. 16.

Windmeyer encourages greater Charlotte, the Carolinas and Southeastern college and university officials to attend the Fair, and said, “There is indeed LGBT progress in Charlotte, the Carolinas and the southeastern United States. Our LGBT-friendly national college fair program showcases campuses who want to recruit out LGBT & ally students. It sends a clear message: ‘Gay students are welcome, even celebrated on this campus.’”

Free and open to the public, the Campus Pride’s LGBT-Friendly College Fairs allow any student and their family the opportunity to interact with colleges and universities that value LGBT and ally people. Registration for schools is $195 to $250 per fair for each institution and is open to any college or university across the United States. Each fair will also feature expert advice about LGBT-friendly colleges, scholarship resources and even effective tips for campus visits.

Campus Pride’s 2010-2011 LGBT-Friendly National College Fair Program will visit: Charlotte (Oct. 2), Portland (Oct. 16), New York (Nov. 5), Boston (Nov. 6), Los Angeles (April 9). More details on each event, which are free to current or prospective students, can be found at www.campusclimateindex.org/events.

In addition to this year’s LGBT-Friendly College Fair program, Campus Pride is proud to announce its forthcoming national LGBT climate research in the report, “State of Higher Education for LGBT People,” in partnership with its Q Research Institute for Higher Education.

Written by Sue Rankin, Ph.D., Dr. Warren J. Blumenfeld, Ed.D., Genevieve N. Weber, Ph.D., LMHC and Somjen Frazer, MS, Ed. and a foreword by George Kuh, Ph.D., “The State of Higher Education for LGBT People” is the most comprehensive national research of its kind to date. The report documents experiences of nearly 6,000 students, faculty, staff and administrators who identify as LGBT at colleges and universities across the United States. Recommendations and findings from the national study provide the means for student activists, campus program planners and policy makers to implement strategic initiatives to address the needs and concerns of their LGBT students and employees. The research will be available in September, with a special webinar slated for Sept. 21 and a national policy briefing at the U.S. Capitol on Sept. 23. For more information, visitwww.campuspride.org/research.

To learn more about Campus Pride programs and services, please visit www.CampusPride.org or email [email protected].

Photo: Pride Charlotte 2008. Credit: Willamor Media, via Flickr, licensed under Creative Commons.

Thanks to The Advocate (and a bevy of other news-media across the nation) for the coverage of Campus Pride's 19 five-star-rated campuses in our LGBT-Friendly Campus Climate Index.

Be sure to check out our two releases on the subject:
"Campus Pride Climate Index ranks gay-friendliness of American colleges and universities" Aug. 2
"Campus Pride successful in changing "Alternative Lifestyle" Princeton Review list wording" Aug. 4

From The Advocate:

Read the rest at Advocate.com...

See 10+ more headlines from around the nation after the jump...

National LGBT organization still cautions using the Top 20 LGBT-friendly list due to flawed methodology; instead encourages referencing the Princeton Review list with the comprehensive Campus Pride Climate Index ratings available without charge online

(Charlotte, NC) – Campus Pride, a national non-profit working to create safer, more LGBT-inclusive colleges and to build future LGBT and ally leaders, is pleased with the Princeton Review’s decision to change problematic wording in its list title regarding LGBT acceptance and safety on college campuses in the release of “The Best 373 Colleges” (Random House/Princeton Review, $22.99). Despite the change in language, however, Campus Pride continues to caution parents, families and LGBT students on Princeton Review’s rankings, which include no comprehensive review of LGBT campus climates, policies or practices, and urges the use of its far more detailed and free of charge online LGBT-Friendly Campus Climate Index (www.campusclimateindex.org).

Each year, Princeton Review publishes its lists of the 300-some best colleges in the nation and includes lists of campuses where LGBT students are either most or least accepted. As per the recommendation of Campus Pride, the old lists, titled “Gay Community Accepted” and “Alternative Lifestyle Not An Alternative”, have been changed to “LGBT-Friendly” and “LGBT-Unfriendly.”

The change comes four years after repeated requests by Campus Pride to change the problematic wording. In addition, Campus Pride in partnership with other national organizations also successfully persuaded Princeton Review to change the non-inclusive and outdated wording in the question on LGBT acceptance it asks students. The old question – “Is there very little discrimination against homosexuals?” – was replaced with: “Do students, faculty, and administrators at your college treat all persons equally regardless of their sexual orientations and gender identity/expression?”

“Campus Pride is pleased that the Princeton Review decided to change not only the question it asks students but the title it gives its two lists, although we still have many concerns regarding the company’s approach, overall LGBT knowledge base and commitment to detail,” said Windmeyer, author of “The Advocate College Guide for LGBT Students” (Allyson Books, 2006), the first-ever guide profiling the 100 Best LGBT-Friendly Colleges.

Read more after the jump...