Abigail Miner/The LanternHannah Brown, Wendy Cao, Samantha Snyder, Mike Pham and Lewis Williams answer questions fromthe audience during the “Guess the Straight Person” panel Tuesday at the Younkin Success Center. A recent rating by the LGBT-Friendly Campus Climate Index, an initiative from national LGBT organization Campus Pride, gave OSU a rating of 5 out of 5.
OSU received perfect scores in seven out of eight rating categeories, but received a 4.5 in LGBT Housing & Residence Life because there are no living communities that support LGBT students.
Developed in 2001, the goal of the LGBT-Friendly Campus Climate Index is to improve the national standard for the quality of life for LGBT students, staff, faculty and their allies. The rating system was created in response to schools that wanted to gauge how they were faring with their LGBT students.
“The Index allows prospective students to learn about the campus before even stepping foot on campus,” said Shane Windmeyer, executive director for Campus Pride. “It is a great way for colleges to become more LGBT-friendly and for prospective new students to find the perfect campus for them.”
Anthony Weston, a sophomore in biochemistry and sexuality studies, said he never struggled with his sexual identity but knows how much of a challenge it can be for someone to be openly gay. Weston said he thinks students have fewer qualms about being open at OSU.
“This is such a diverse campus,” said Weston. “There are so many open-minded and supportive people here.”
Elizabeth Warren, intercultural specialist at the Multicultural Center and one of the many people providing support at OSU, strongly agrees with the rating Ohio State has received. Warren said she thinks the university deserves the recognition.
“Ohio State provides support to the GLBT community from the pre-admissions through graduation and beyond,” Warren said in an e-mail. “Ohio State provides domestic partnership benefits, which helps retain our most talented faculty and staff.”
Alumni also offer strong support to the OSU LGBT community, Warren said.
“Ohio State … has a very large and active GLBT Alumni Society that provides mentorship, scholarships as well as community connections that help students thrive once they have graduated,” Warren said.
There are 10 LGBT student organizations on campus that range from political to academic groups.
Kurt Landis, a junior and double major in textiles and clothing and Italian, agrees with the rating’s results. As an openly gay student, Landis noticed a significant difference in the atmosphere at OSU compared to the high school he went to in Toledo.
“There’s a lot more open-mindedness when it comes to diversity on campus,” Landis said. “There are a lot more resources than ever in high school. There’s the Multicultural Center, the Student Advocacy Center, which are both fundamental for a campus that is actively seeking diversity and nurturing it.”
As chair for the Speakers Bureau, Landis helps dispel myths involving the gay community. The group often hosts what it calls a “Guess the Straight Person” panel, in which audience members try to do just that. Afterward, the group opens the floor to questions, educating the audience members on issues pertaining to the gay community.
Another source of campus support is BART, the Bias Assessment and Response Team. The group coordinates university responses to “hate and bias-related incidents that impact all or a significant portion of the university community,” according to the BART Web site.
Although OSU received a less-than-perfect score in the LGBT Housing & Residence Life category, Landis does not think a GLBT-only floor or residence hall would be necessary.
“I really don’t think it’s necessary for OSU to make a [GLBT] floor,” Landis said. “They should be living with other students and interacting with others. Overall, it would be a bad idea to segregate.”
Weston disagrees, saying he’d “love to see a GLBT residence hall,” but in the meantime recommends the the GLBT First Year Cohort.
“I participated in it last year, and it is a great group for anyone who wants to become involved and get to know other GLBT people on campus.” Weston said.
Although OSU was rated one of the best schools by the index, the university continues to make changes to better support the students. Any new building erected on campus will have unisex bathrooms to serve not only parents with small children, but also transgendered students.
“One recent improvement was centralized data collection for students interested in GLBT issues,” Warren said in an e-mail. “Orientation added a question to their involvement questionnaire and for the first time we had data from incoming students that wanted to connect to the GLBT community.”
Jamila Williams can be reached at [email protected].
