On Wednesday, May 2, Campus Pride Executive Director Shane Windmeyer presented a special online webinar discussing LGBT-inclusive college recruitment and admissions.

Campus Pride is offering you the opportunity to watch the webinar online for free. Click here to watch the approximately hour-long presentation.

About the Webinar: Gay rights pioneer Harvey Milk often touted: “We’re here to recruit you.” His comment was poking fun at the adage but yet in the same breath advocated boldly for greater LGBT visibility. Over the last few years, a growing visible population of LGBT youth have emerged for college recruitment and retention efforts. These out LGBT and ally youth want to find colleges that not only meet their academic needs but also provide a welcoming, safe, accepting environment. More and more colleges want to actively reach out to these LGBT youth and share their LGBT-friendly programs and services. Campus Pride provides an analysis of LGBT recruitment and retention trends and observations from its National LGBT-Friendly College Fair Program and its LGBT-Friendly Campus Climate Index . The webinar will also feature a panel of guests from some of the leading LGBT-Friendly colleges and universities across the country. Learn how your campus can recruit out LGBT students and provide retention services.

Take Action: LGBT-Inclusive Outreach Opportunities

Learn more about LGBT-inclusive outreach and recruiting opportunities for your college or university through Campus Pride's annual LGBT-Friendly College Fair Program. Running August through November, the fair will tour Charlotte, Chicago, Boston, Los Angeles, Dallas and New York City. Learn more and register at www.campusprideindex.org/events/.

Join Campus Pride for a special webinar this week on Wednesday, April 18, with young adult marriage equality advocate and straight ally Zach Wahls. A perfect addition to your campus' LGBT programming!

AS SEEN ON YOUTUBE: “My Two Moms” or Everything I Needed to Know About Gay Marriage I Learned in Debate Class with guest presenter Zach Wahls, “That Kid from YouTube” and Author of the new book “My Two Moms”

Click here to learn more about this webinar and others, and register your campus for $95 and be entered into a drawing to win FREE REGISTRATION for a student from your campus to attend the 2012 Camp Pride Summer Leadership Program, July 17-22, at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tenn.

Webinar Details:
Thursday, April 19, 3p.m. Eastern/Noon Pacific (50-75 minutes)
Only $95 per site includes web recording

Zach Wahls, 20, is known as “that kid from YouTube with two moms.” His passionate testimony before the Iowa General Assembly against a proposed anti-LGBT constitutional amendment was the number one YouTube "Political
Video" of 2011. Today Zach continues his national advocacy speaking in favor of marriage equality and will release his new memoir titled My Two Moms on April 26, 2012.This webinar will provide a 35,000-foot analysis of the same-sex marriage debate and unpack some of the most common arguments heard from the other side. After assessing the arguments, we’ll look at the most effective ways to counter them (i.e. don’t be afraid to call out someone playing the “as a straight person, my rights are under attack” card.) as well as the least effective ways to counter them. There is an art to argumentation that has to be learned and practiced, and while this workshop certainly won’t teach you everything you need to know, it will give participants of all ages a foundation on which to further build debate and communication skills. It will also offer seasoned spokespeople some tips to further refine their messaging. Wahls will also speak to his own experience and what his journey as a LGBT advocate.

Participants will:

• Understand the nature and context of the national marriage debate.
• Be able to respond to the five most frequent arguments against marriage.
• Learn why sometimes the best argument is one you don’t have to make.
• Avoid some of the simple mistakes that, as activists, we tend to accidentally make all the time and
• without realizing we’ve done so.
• Learn from Wahls story of his family and how his life has been forever changed.

This special April 18 webinar makes a perfect addition to your campus' LGBT programming! Invite as many attendees -- students, staff or faculty -- to attend your viewing of the webinar and use a screen projector to increase audience size! Great for Pride Week activities and other LGBT campus events!

Other upcoming webinars...

To Ask or Not to Ask: LGBT Identity Questions on National Research and College Forms, April 19
Learn more or register now...

LGBT College Students: Use and Abuse of Alcohol and Other Drugs, April 25
Learn more or register now...

Shining Light on the Whole Spectrum: How to Embrace Bisexual, Pansexual, Fluid And Questioning Students Through Programming And Practice, April 26
Learn more or register now...

We’re Here to Recruit You: College Admissions & LGBT Students, May 2
Learn more or register now...

Today, Campus Pride Executive Director Shane Windmeyer and Pennsylvania State University researcher Sue Rankin, Ph.D., an author of our 2010 "The State of Higher Education for LGBT People," are attending the annual conference of the American College Personnel Association in Louisville, Ken.

The two are presenting, "To Ask or Not to Ask: LGBT Identity Questions on National Research and College Forms."

It's a hot topic these days. Last year, the Illinois' Elmhurst College became the first American institution of higher education to include optional demographic questions on LGBT identity in its admissions application. Recently, The University of California announced it was considering similar questions on their Statement of Intent to Register (SIR) forms.

It's an important development on LGBT issues in higher education and one that Campus Pride believes will further efforts to create safer and more inclusive campuses for LGBT students.

As our executive director noted in our statement on the University of California news: "Colleges and universities are responsible for the education and safety of their LGBT students -- a school cannot provide necessary services or maintain proper safety and campus climate without first knowing who are the out LGBT students attending their school. Demographic questions asking students about their sexual orientation and gender identity will give university administrators the data they need to properly implement LGBT-inclusive policies and practices. Institutions should be held responsible for student safety, retention and academic success of every student -- the addition of identity questions finally make this possible for LGBT students."

If you're a faculty or staff member and unable to make it to the ACPA conference this week or if you're there but will miss Shane's and Sue's presentation, we hope you'll join us for our April 19 webinar on the same topic. Learn more about the webinar and others in our spring webinar series and register today.

Campus Pride Executive Director Shane Windmeyer on LGBT-identity questions and college admissions forms at The Huffington Post today:

In order to best serve the needs of out LGBT college students, it is imperative that colleges and universities give these students the option to self-identify on the college admission form. This way the campus can take responsibility for the LGBT student experience, their academic retention, safety, and success from the beginning. For a long time, colleges have done this in regard to race/ethnicity, religion, and other optional demographics on college admission forms.

Be sure to catch Shane's entire commentary at HuffPo...

And... Don't miss out on our upcoming webinar on college admissions and LGBT inclusion on April 19. Click here to learn more about the webinar and others in our Spring 2012 Webinar Series.

Campus Pride praises the University of California Academic Senate annd Board of Admissions and Relations with Schools for their recommendation to allow incoming students to identify their sexual orientation and gender identity. (Read more via University of California's The Daily Bruin and CBS Los Angeles.)

The questions, which are planned to be optional, will allow university administrators and staff to more adequately prepare for and serve the needs of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) students on their campus.

"Colleges and universities are responsible for the education and safety of their LGBT students -- a school cannot provide necessary services or maintain proper safety and campus climate without first knowing who are the out LGBT students attending their school," said Shane Windmeyer, executive director of Campus Pride. "Demographic questions asking students about their sexual orientation and gender identity will give university administrators the data they need to properly implement LGBT-inclusive policies and practices. Institutions should be held responsible for student safety, retention and academic success of every student -- the addition of identity questions finally make this possible for LGBT students."

Illinois' Elmhurst College is the only college or university in the U.S. to add similar questions to their undergraduate admissions application. The question was first asked last year in Fall 2011. Five percent of applicants voluntarily identified themselves as LGBT in the first semester of applications.

The LGBT demographic questions will appear on the University of California's Statement of Intent to Register (SIR) forms. The question was also recently approved to appear on forms within California's Cal State and community college systems. A dozen other colleges have inquired with Campus Pride about the addition of such a question and a number colleges in addition to the University of California system have also been reported as considering the question such as Duke University, Yale School of Law and Harvard University.

Campus Pride encourages University of California Provost and Executive Vice President of Academic Affairs Lawrence H. Pitts to provide final approval for the addition of the question for the safety, responsibility and academic success of every student.

EXCERPT -- Read the entire AP Story online at http://news.yahoo.com/most-us-colleges-not-asking-sexual-orientation-084...

By TAMMY WEBBER - Associated Press

ELMHURST, Illinois (AP) — Gary Rold didn't necessarily consider himself a pioneer when he decided that Elmhurst College would begin asking applicants about their sexual orientation.

"I thought from the recruitment standpoint we might be more proactive" in attracting gay and lesbian students, said Rold, admissions dean at the small, private liberal arts school tucked in a middle-class Chicago suburb. He also wanted to make sure the students got any help they needed. "I realized that many of them come to college feeling really isolated and alienated."

Rold's decision touched off a flurry of publicity after advocates for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) students lauded Elmhurst as the first in the nation to ask applicants about sexual orientation — an idea that has gotten little traction elsewhere. Now the question is, will other colleges follow suit?

Advocates say that besides being a recruiting tool to help diversify campuses, openly assessing a school's LGBT population would make colleges more aware of needs such as finding tolerant roommates and providing appropriate health care. And it would send a positive message to prospective students who may have faced discrimination in high school.

But officials at other colleges, especially those that are large and well-known, say they don't need to ask because they already have reputations for being diverse and inclusive, and a student's sexual orientation would have no bearing on admission. Others wonder if some schools worry about the controversy such a question might generate.

Nevertheless, the idea of asking about sexual orientation is not likely to go away.

REGISTER NOW

WEDNESDAY, MAY 11
3 P.M. EST

$95 per site includes FREE webinar recording
More information online at www.CampusPride.org/webinarseries.asp

FEATURED PRESENTERS:
Shane L. Windmeyer, Campus Pride
with select LGBT-friendly colleges/universities
Dartmouth College
Bryant College
University of Southern California
University of Pennsylvania
Indiana University Purdue University - Indianapolis

Over the last few years, a growing visible population of LGBT youth have emerged for college recruitment efforts. These out LGBT youth want to find colleges that not only meet their academic needs but also provide a welcoming, safe, accepting environment. More and more colleges want to actively reach out to these LGBT youth and share their LGBT-friendly programs and services. Campus Pride provides an analysis of LGBT recruitment strategies, trends and observations from its National LGBT-Friendly College Fair Program and its LGBT-Friendly Campus Climate Index . The webinar will also feature a guests from a few of the leading LGBT-Friendly colleges and universities across the country. Learn how your campus can recruit out LGBT students for the future.

Presented by Campus Pride
in partnership with the CAMPUSPEAK

REGISTER FOR ANY WEBINAR IN THE CAMPUS PRIDE SERIES & HAVE A CHANCE TO WIN A FREE REGISTRATION ($795 value) FOR YOUR COLLEGE TO ATTEND THE CAMPUS PRIDE SUMMER LEADERSHIP CAMP IN JULY 2011. GO TO WWW.CAMPUSPEAK.COM/CONNECT

The University of Pennsylvania's admissions office is making history. This year, after those highly anticipated fat envelopes get mailed out, some students will receive an additional letter telling them about the vibrant queer community at Penn.

In an initiative to recruit more LGBTQ and Ally students, their campus organization the Lambda Alliance has teamed up with the school's admissions officers. According to this article which appeared in Penn's student newspaper yesterday, if an accepted student's admissions file reveals that they are a strong ally or if they come out in their personal statement, the admissions office will flag the files. These flagged files will then be sent a letter that is currently being crafted by the Lambda Alliance Vice Chairman for Communications Julia Moon. Students who write that they have not yet come out to their family or that they aren't comfortable with public knowledge of their sexuality will not be sent a letter.

This technique has long been employed by the University for racial and ethnic minority students, but this is the first time they will reach out to LGBT students specifically.

What do you think about this?

Do you think it's helpful, or an invasion of privacy?

Were concerns about LGBT life factored into your college decision?

Has your organization ever thought about approaching the admissions office?

Does your admissions office have up-to-date information about LGBT life at your school? Do they have pamphlets about your organization (if you have them)? Queer student representation at prospective or accepted student events?

Thinking of transferring or know any high school students?

“Good Morning, Baltimore.” I arrived yesterday in Baltimore, MD. And I had to make a Hairspray Musical reference at least once. I guess this is the official start to the Campus Pride Fall travel season. Woo Hoo!

Although I am not at a college, I am attending for our first time the National Association of College Admission Counselors Conference (NACAC) hosted this year in Baltimore, MD. The theme of the conference has something to do with “crabs” – so I took a picture of one of the volunteers. Poor thing. All I could think about was Mr. Crabby Patty from the cartoon Sponge Bob Square Pants. She was a good sport and let me take a photo. Thanks!

While this is not a LGBT conference, Campus Pride has invested time and money into doing outreach around our LGBT-Friendly Campus Climate Index (www.campusclimateindex.org). Our goal being at the conference is to make more colleges aware of the Index, our LGBT-friendly college fairs and how to best recruit openly LGBT students to their campus. Campus Pride submitted two workshops to the conference and presented one today, the other one will be tomorrow. The workshop today was in collaboration with our educational partner the Point Foundation (www.pointfoundation.org) --who is simply fabulous. Campus Pride loves working with Point Foundation. Todays workshop will hopefully be one of many more educational efforts we do together in the future.