Portland State and Southern Oregon University are two of the most LGBTQ-friendly campuses in the nation, according to an annual list released Monday.
The Oregon universities ranked in the top 30 of the Campus Pride Index, which has recognized colleges and universities with LGBTQ-inclusive policies, programs and amenities since 2007.
“Being recognized on this list is a great honor because it brings national attention to the work that PSU is doing across campus to provide a welcoming, inclusive university for our LGBTQ students,” said Craig Leets, PSU’s Queer Resource Center director. “This recognition is not an endpoint but encouragement to continue doing more and better to make LGBTQ students a priority on our campus,” he said in a statement.
The nonprofit Campus Pride organization advocates for LGBTQ-inclusive policies at college campuses across the country. Schools voluntarily participate in the survey. More than 240 schools responded in 2016, down from more than 450 a few years ago.
Shane Windmeyer, Campus Pride’s executive director, said the organization beefed up its criteria in 2015 to ask colleges to specify how they are being trans-inclusive. Schools in the top 30 this year “truly have met the higher benchmarks,” he said.
PSU has adopted some of those policies, a spokeswoman said in a statement, such as asking sexual orientation and expanded optional gender demographic questions on admissions applications and other university records.
SOU and PSU frequently appear on the list of top LGBTQ-friendly schools. According to its 2015 list, SOU received five out of five stars and was recognized for its gender inclusive living environment on campus and other programs.
“Now more than ever, there are colleges that are recruiting LGBTQ youth,” Windmeyer said in a statement, “and they are investing in a campus that is fully supportive of LGBTQ students.”
The University of Oregon also typically appears on lists of top LGBTQ schools in the country and has every year since 2012. Oregon State University appeared on a top 50 list in 2014.
The University of Washington and Washington State University also made the cut in 2016.
Windmeyer said this week Campus Pride will release a list of the worst schools for LGBTQ students to attend. He said that will be a first for the nonprofit group, adding there are at least 105 schools that “go out of their way” to be unwelcoming.
The University of Maine at Machias was among the campuses to be included in Campus Pride’s list. But it isn’t t he first time the university made the list of LGBTQ friendly campuses, receiving mention in 2015, according to a previously published report.
University officials said last August that faculty and staff receive “safe space” training aimed at improving awareness of issues and challenges faced by LGBTQ individuals. The university also holds an annual Rainbow Ball Weekend and attends an annual LGBTQ student recruitment event in Boston.
Here’s the full list of schools recognized Monday:
— Cornell University
— Elon University
— Harvey Mudd College
— Hobart and William Smith Colleges
— Indiana University at Bloomington
— Ithaca College
— Macalester College
— Montclair State University
— Portland State University
— Princeton University
— Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey-New Brunswick
— San Diego State University
— Southern Oregon University
— Pennsylvania State University
Tufts University
— University of California at Los Angeles
— University of California at Davis
— University of California at Santa Barbara
— University of Illinois at Chicago
— University of Louisville
— University of Maine at Machias
— University of Maryland at College Park
— University of Massachusetts at Amherst
— University of Minnesota Twin Cities
— University of Pennsylvania
— University of Vermont
— University of Washington
— University of Wisconsin at Green Bay
— University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee
— Washington State University
BDN writer Nick McCrea contributed to this report.
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