A college guidebook that came out last week and targets lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender students named Dartmouth one of the top 100 gay-friendly universities in the country.
The Advocate College Guide for LGBT Students, endorsed by gay and lesbian newsmagazine The Advocate, compiled the list of LGBT-friendly campuses based on a "gay point average" -- a number calculated from surveys of current LGBT students, faculty and staff at 680 universities nominated by students. Schools made the book for getting high marks on criteria that included non-discrimination policies, LGBT resource centers and LGBT events.
The University of Pennsylvania and the University of Southern California topped the list with perfect 20-out-of-20 gay point averages, and Ivy League peer Princeton also made the top 20. Dartmouth did not make the top 20 list, missing points for not having LGBT student scholarships, LGBT housing options, LGBT sensitivity training for campus police or a non-discrimination statement inclusive of gender identity at the time of the book's publication.
Since then, the Trustees have approved including gender identity in the College's non-discrimination policy and the LGBT alumni association, DGALA, plans to start offering scholarships to LGBT students, according to Gay-Straight Alliance President Jamal Brown '08. The DGALA scholarships would be specifically for students who lose their parents' financial support when they come out to them.
"Dartmouth is behind LGBT people 100 percent and I think that just including that in June in the policy is incredible," Brown said.
Still, he said, homophobia is rampant and Dartmouth "still [has] a long way to go. I really want to stress that."
One big issue the gay community continues to pursue is gender-neutral housing options, specifically in the newest dorms under construction, Brown said.
"We've been trying for years to do gender-neutral housing, especially in the new dorms, but it just seems like it's just not happening," he said. "It seems like there's always an excuse."
Advocate Editor-in-Chief Bruce Steele said many of the resources addressed in the book are relatively new, like dorm rooms specifically for LGBT students and queer studies programs.
"I was openly gay in college but almost none of these things existed," said Steele, a University of Alabama graduate.
The book intends to quantify the experience LGBT students can expect at various universities and help them narrow their selections, he said.
"What we are assessing is how much effort the university itself, and by extension, alumni and student groups are making to make LGBT students feel comfortable and at home at the university," said Steele.
Steele said other college guides on the market might mention LGBT clubs as part of their school profiles, but "there's a very definite need there that has not been filled by any other college guide, specific to gay students."
The most important issues for gay students headed to colleges are feeling safe and welcomed as an openly gay student and being able to find other openly gay students, Steele said.
The book's publisher can barely keep up with demand because the new guide is the only one of its kind out there, according to Assistant Dean of Student Life Pam Misener, who serves as an advisor to LGBT students. "There's this myth that if you're an LGBT student you have to pick an urban college or a college near an urban setting to have an experience that supports that particular sex orientation or gender identity," Misener said.
"That's just not true anymore," she added.
In the book, the LGBT Dartmouth students who responded to online interviews named Robinson Hall and the west gym of the Fitness Center as the best places to check out men. The Fitness Center and rugby fields are listed as the best places to check out women.
