Utah misses the grade on LGBTQ-friendly campuses

Campus Pride recently released its 2017 Best of the Best Top 25 LGBTQ-friendly Colleges and Universities, based on their overall ratings on the Campus Pride Index and specific LGBTQ-inclusive benchmark measures. The Campus Pride Index, currently 300+ campuses, is the national benchmarking tool which self-assesses LGBTQ-friendly policies, programs and practices. The tool is free of charge and can be found online at CampusPrideIndex.org.

The top 25 include schools from 16 states including more conservative places like North Carolina, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Colorado, Wisconsin and Ohio. The top institutions received 5 out of 5 stars in the areas including — but not limited to — campus safety, policy inclusion, training and education, counseling and health, and recruitment and retention efforts. While Utah failed to make the list, there are only two universities included in the survey, according to the Campus Pride Index: University of Utah, rated 4.5 stars, and Utah State University, rated 2 stars. According to the index, the UofU received its lowest score of 2.5 in the area of campus safety. Utah State received only 1 star for housing and residence life, recruitment and retention efforts, and campus safety.

Dr. Genny Beemyn, coordinator of Campus Pride’s Trans Policy Clearinghouse, said: “It is especially important to see colleges from Kansas, Kentucky and North Carolina among the top 25. If these colleges can become supportive oases in largely anti-LGBTQ states, then other institutions in very conservative states have no excuse not to do likewise.”

Many campuses in cities like New York, Boston, and Los Angeles also participate annually in the Campus Pride LGBTQ-friendly College Fair Program. Learn more at CampusPride.org/CollegeFair.

Campus Pride also launched two years ago, the Campus Pride Sports Index which measures LGBTQ progress in athletics and recreation online. Learn more at CampusPrideSportsIndex.org.