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The Ivy Coach College Admissions Blog
University of Iowa Admissions
December 7, 2012
The Ivy Coach applauds the University of Iowa for their bold step towards increasing the diversity of their student body.
The University of Iowa admissions office has made a landmark change to their application for admission. As of December 1st, applicants to the University of Iowa have the option of responding to the question, “Do you identify with the LGBT community?” We happen to think the question is a bit vague (Elmhurst College outside of Chicago became the first school in the United States to directly pose the LGBT question, as you may remember). Lots of folks identify with the LGBT community, whether or not they are members of the LGBT community. But that’s for another day. The facts is that the University of Iowa, by posing this question, has become the first public university in the United States to include a question regarding an applicant’s sexual orientation in the application for admission.
We applaud the University of Iowa for this step. It is in line with the university’s goal of increasing the diversity of the student body. How can a university recruit LGBT students, after all, if they don’t know who identifies as members of the LGBT community? Well, now the University of Iowa, unlike its public university peers in the United States, will indeed know this information. Or, given that the question is a little vague, they’ll at least have a better indicator.
As reported by “NBC News” in an article on the change to the University of Iowa application, “According to school officials, the University of Iowa was the first U.S. public university to admit men and women on an equal basis, the first state university to officially recognize the LGBT community, and the first public university to offer insurance to employees’ domestic partners.” Go Iowa!
Categories: College Admissions, LGBT College Students Tags: Admission to U of Iowa, Iowa Admissions, LGBT and University of Iowa, University of Iowa Admissions, University of Iowa LGBT ApplicantsDartmouth LGBT Students
September 15, 2012
Dartmouth College is a trailblazer for LGBT students.
Dartmouth LGBT students will have an affinity house by 2013 or 2014. Dartmouth, a university that ranks among the most welcoming to LGBT students and faculty, is moving ahead with plans to build the house. Money has been set aside for the project from the school’s capital budget. It’s a project that was championed by former Dartmouth president Jim Yong Kim (who is now the president of the World Bank) and spearheaded by Pam Misener, the Office of Pluralism and Leadership’s longtime but outgoing advisor to LGBTQA students.
While there was already a room devoted to the LGBT community at Dartmouth (in Robinson Hall), this affinity house marks a major accomplishment for Misener in setting out to be a leader among American universities with regard to LGBT inclusivity. The LGBT community at Dartmouth College is a vibrant one, one that grows stronger each and every year. With this house, Pam Misener has most certainly left her mark on the community.
At a school where just about 50% of students are members of fraternities and sororities (although most don’t live within the fraternity and sorority houses), this gives LGBT students another option to become part of a community that welcomes and embraces them. We salute Dartmouth College for continuing to trail-blaze the landscape of LGBT rights. It is truly inspirational and other universities should follow in its example.
While you’re here, check out this post on LGBT Friendly Colleges.
Categories: Ivy League, LGBT College Students Tags: Dartmouth LGBT Community, Dartmouth LGBT Students, Gay Ivy League Students, Gay Students at Dartmouth, LGBT Students at DartmouthComments: Leave A Comment
LGBT Friendly Colleges
August 24, 2012
“Campus Pride” has released its annual “Top 25 LGBT-Friendly Colleges and Universities.” So which colleges have made the list this year? The 25 universities, appearing in no specific order, include Cornell University and the University of Pennsylvania of the Ivy League. Also on the list are several prestigious universities including Emory University, Oberlin College, Stanford University, UCLA, the University of California – Berkeley, the University of Chicago, and the University of Michigan.
“Campus Pride” has released its annual list of the top 25 LGBT friendly colleges (photo credit: Ludovic Bertron from New York City, USA).
Rounding out the list of LGBT friendly colleges are Carleton College, Indiana University, Ithaca College, Portland State University, The Ohio State University, The Pennsylvania State University, the University of California – Riverside, the University of California – Santa Barbara, the University of Illinois at Chicago, the University of Maryland – College Park, the University of Massachusetts – Amherst, the University of Minnesota – Twin Cities, the University of Oregon, the University of Utah, the University of Vermont, and the University of Washington.
These rankings are based on LGBT-policy inclusion at the universities, student life, academic life, and other factors. At The Ivy Coach, we salute the 25 universities that have made “Campus Pride’s” prestigious list as these universities are leaders in the area of LGBT inclusion. If you’re a member of the LGBT community applying to college, these sorts of references are always good to check out. It’s important to know which universities have your back…and which ones don’t. But just because a university isn’t on this list, that doesn’t mean they aren’t welcoming to LGBT students. Many universities have made great strides to make LGBT students feel right at home on their campuses and this list does not recognize each of these individual efforts across our nation. So be sure to use this list as a starting point but to continue your research elsewhere!
Categories: College Admissions, LGBT College Students Tags: Gay Friendly Colleges, Gay Friendly Universities, LGBT Friendly College Campuses, LGBT Friendly Colleges, LGBT Friendly UniversitiesComments: Leave A Comment
LGBT University Applicants
March 21, 2012
As Tanya Caldwell of “The Choice” blog on college admissions reports, University of California officials have proposed asking students their sexual orientation after they’ve been admitted. This is in the hope of being able to further identify the diversity within their incoming class and also to be able to reach out to these students so that they can feel at home at the university they attend.
Should a question on the Common App ask students if they identify as members of the LGBT community?
The universities that have led the charge to reach out to LGBT university applicants have been Dartmouth College, the University of Pennsylvania, and Elmhurst College in Illinois (a college, interestingly, affiliated with the United Church of Christ which supports gay marriage). The Common Application has denied requests to put a question on the application that asks students to identify their sexual orientation, although, according to Caldwell’s article on “The Choice,” the board of the Common App declared in 2011 that they might revisit the issue “later this decade.”
Do you think colleges should ask students their sexual orientation? Do you worry that it might put applicants in an uncomfortable position since they may not be out to their parents who are reviewing their applications? Where do you stand on the topic? Let us know your thoughts by posting below!
Categories: LGBT College Students Tags: Common App and LGBT, Common App LGBT Question, Gay Applicants and College Admission, LGBT and College Applications, LGBT University ApplicantsComments: Comments Off
Harvard and LGBT Equality
February 27, 2012
We’ve been very critical of Harvard University in the past for not doing as much as its Ivy League peers for LGBT students. As previously mentioned, the university doesn’t have an adequate campus resource center for current LGBT students. The university doesn’t rank anywhere near the top of the Campus Climate Index, a measure that quantifies the efforts of universities in the arena of LGBT equality. But something cool is happening right now with regard to Harvard’s efforts to embrace its LGBT students!
Harvard should grant posthumous degrees to students expelled in the 1920′s for being gay.
It seems that students and faculty at Harvard are urging administrators to award posthumous degrees to seven Harvard students who were expelled decades ago for being gay or for being perceived as gay. On the eve of Lady Gaga’s visit to the Harvard campus to promote her “Born This Way” anti-bullying campaign, the group of students and faculty will hold a rally in order to sway administrators to grant these posthumous degrees.
Larry Summers, former president of Harvard, previously denounced the McCarthyist actions of the university to weed out LGBT students in decades past. According to “The Washington Post,” Summers called such tactics by Harvard, “abhorrent and an affront to the values of our university.” We couldn’t agree more. But more can always be done to demonstrate that the university does not condone the errors of its past, and we at The Ivy Coach think granting these posthumous degrees would be a really nice start. It would be a wonderful show of support to current LGBT Harvard students. Make it happen, Harvard administrators!
Categories: Ivy League, LGBT College Students Tags: Harvard and Gay Equality, Harvard and LGBT Applicants, Harvard and LGBT Equality, Harvard Applicants, Harvard LGBT StudentsComments: Comments Off
Athletes from the Ivy League
January 20, 2012
What makes athletes from the Ivy League different from athletes from, say, the ACC, Big East, or SCC? Well, for one, Ivy League athletes don’t earn scholarships. They also have to meet certain admissions criteria (see our post on the Ivy League Academic Index) and they tend to be student-athletes more so than athletes who happen to also go to school. One great example of such an athlete is Andrew Goldstein, a graduate of Dartmouth College, where he played goalie on the lacrosse team and earned two honorable mention All-American nods.
Ivy League athletes like Andrew Goldstein are true examples of student-athletes with an emphasis on the student.
Andrew Goldstein is regarded as the first male professional team sport athlete in North America to be openly gay during his playing career. Goldstein played for two seasons of Major League Lacrosse – first with the Boston Cannons and then with the Long Island Lizards. Goldstein was openly gay at Dartmouth as this SportsCenter piece points out, a piece we at The Ivy Coach happened to have a whole lot to do with.
Since leaving lacrosse, Goldstein has become an outspoken advocate of not saying “gay” in a derogatory way in locker rooms. He’s also become a biology professor at UCLA and made a notable publication in the prestigious “Science” magazine by leading a team of researchers that found the possible cell of origin for prostate cancer. Wow.
Now that is an Ivy League athlete for you! Want to read more? Check out this piece on ESPN about the Ivy League athlete or this one on the historic nature of Goldstein’s example as an openly gay athlete.
Categories: College Athletes, Ivy League, LGBT College Students Tags: Athletes from the Ivy League, Athletes in the Ivy League, Ivy League Athletes, Ivy League Athletics, Ivy League SportsComments: Comments Off
Gay College Applicants
January 18, 2012
5% of students self-identified as members of the LGBT community on the application of the first college in America to directly ask.
Remember back in August of this year when we applauded Elmhurst College, a small school outside of Chicago, for becoming the first college to directly ask students if they were members of the LGBT community on their application? Well, the results are in and, of those students who applied to Elmhurst College, 5% voluntarily noted that they were members of the LGBT community. Of the 109 applicants who self-identified as lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender, 63 earned admission. Keep in mind that many students may have chosen to not self-identify as LGBT since their parents are hovering over their answers.
And what percentage of applicants chose to answer the question of whether or not they’re members of the LGBT community? According to “Pink News,” between 85 to 90% of applicants! Does that surprise you? Also, according to “Pink News,” “A statement said: ‘Many admissions officers and secondary school counselors expressed concern regarding how this question might be perceived by students, even though it would be optional.’ But [Gary] Rold, [the Dean of Admission], said five other universities had approached Elmhurst College since the move, which may include Harvard, which announced it was considering such a move in November.”
One of the other universities leading the charge in appealing to gay college applicants is Dartmouth College, a school that asks indirectly on their application information that can pertain to the LGBT community (i.e., involvement in GSA). Do you think other colleges will soon follow the lead of colleges like Elmurst and Dartmouth? Let us know your thoughts on the matter by posting below! Do you think this is a question that should be asked or not? We want your opinions!
Categories: LGBT College Students Tags: Gay and College Admissions, Gay and Ivy League, Gay College Applicants, Gay University Applicants, LGBT College ApplicantsComments: Comments Off
Harvard LGBT Students
October 12, 2011
A couple of months ago, we were very critical of the Harvard University administration for not being among the national leaders in fighting for LGBT student rights. Harvard, unlike its Ivy League peers, doesn’t rank near the top of the Campus Climate Index. The university doesn’t even have an appropriate resource center for Harvard LGBT students.
Harvard LGBT students got support today from the Harvard Men's Wrestling team (photo from "Towleroad").
But Harvard LGBT students got a boost today from members of the Harvard Men’s Wrestling team. For National Coming Out Day, Harvard wrestlers wore t-shirts and pins in support of Harvard LGBT students. As reported by “Towleroad,” “Said team captain Walter Peppelman in a press release obtained by Towleroad: ‘The Harvard Wrestling family believes that it is important to send a message of hope, love, and acceptance to the Harvard community. Today is also an opportunity for us to begin to break down some of the negative stereotypes attached to our sport and to athletics in general. We want to show that the members of Harvard Wrestling love and respect individuals for who they are, regardless of their sexual orientation and pledge to do our best to make them feel at home at Harvard.’”
Wow. Go Harvard wrestlers. What a wonderful way to inspire your administration to get their act together like the rest of the Ivy League colleges. If you’ll remember, several years back, the Dartmouth Men’s Lacrosse team wore gay friendly t-shirts and pins as well on National Coming Out Day. They did that in support of their gay All-Americcan lacrosse goalie who ended up becoming the first male professional team sport athlete in North America to be openly gay during his playing career.
Categories: College Athletes, Ivy League, LGBT College Students Tags: Gay Community at Harvard, Harvard LGBT Community, Harvard LGBT Rankings, Harvard LGBT Students, Harvard University and LGBTComments: Comments Off
Michigan LGBT Applicants
September 25, 2011
Michigan LGBT applicants: You should know that, should you be admitted, you have a university that supports you. The University of Michigan will be celebrating the fortieth anniversary of the first ever LGBT center on any American college campus. That center, the Spectrum Center, was founded in 1970 by the University of Michigan Gay Liberation Front (GLF) and the Radical Lesbians. There’s going to be a big celebration to mark the Spectrum Center’s fortieth anniversary this November.
LGBT applicants should know that the University of Michigan has been a pioneer in the gay rights movement on college campuses.
But that’s not all the University of Michigan has done for LGBT students. To give you an example of something else they’ve done, when Michigan faces San Diego State this Saturday on the gridiron, the university will be airing a PSA encouraging student-athletes to avoid using homophobic slurs. It’s a provocative PSA that we hope will curb hate speech directed at any individuals. And thousands of students, alumni, and fans from across the world will get to see it. University of Michigan, we salute you!
Check out the PSA here, Michigan LGBT applicants. And check out this post on Gay Friendly Colleges. “Newsweek” ranked the University of Michigan fifth this year on their gay-friendly campus rankings.
Categories: LGBT College Students Tags: Gay Friendly Campuses, LGBT and U of Michigan, Michigan LGBT Applicants, University of Michigan LGBT Applicants, University of Michigan LGBT StudentsComments: Comments Off
LGBT Students and College Admissions
August 25, 2011
College admissions history has been made for LGBT students! A small college in suburban Chicago – Elmhurt College – this year became the first college to directly ask applicants if they are members of the LGBT community. Specifically, their question reads, “Would you consider yourself to be a member of the LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgendered) community?” And just so you know, little-known Elmurst College isn’t even nonsecular — the school is affiliated with the United Church of Christ!
For the first time in history, a college committed to diversity has come out and directly asked applicants if they're members of the LGBT community. We salute this school!
No other college has come out and asked college applicants about their sexual orientation directly, though Dartmouth College has led the way by asking about activities that might have an LGBT focus. And Elmurst has come out and said that they’re interested in knowing this information because they’re committed to diversity and thus want to attract students from a variety of backgrounds. To do so, they have to ask. We at The Ivy Coach salute Elmhurst College in Chicago, Illinois!
Check out our posts on Harvard and LGBT Students, Gay Friendly Colleges, and LGBT College Applicants.
Categories: LGBT College Students Tags: Gay Applicants to Ivy League, Ivy League and LGBT Applicants, Ivy League LGBT Admissions, LGBT College Applicants, LGBT Students and College AdmissionsComments: Comments Off
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