Gay, Lesbian, and Bisexual Students' Guide to Colleges, Universities, and Graduate Schools

9780814779842

0814779840

A wake-up call to all of us who work with college-aged and college-bound students. For teachers like me, it is a forceful reminder of how we have failed to be effective role models for our sexually diverse student bodies. For administrators it will serve as an alarm on how hate and violence persist on campuses and on how little has been done to serve lesbian, gay, and bisexual students. But mostly it is a welcomed note of change. No longer will gay, lesbian, and bisexual students have to trust to chance or the local grapevine for information about the sexual atmospheres of colleges. Now they can finally vote with their pocketbooks on what kind of school they wish to attend. I applaud Sherrill and Hardesty on filling this long-standing need. David Bergman, author of Gaiety Transfigured: Gay Self-Representation in American Literature. Now for the first time, there is a college guide written specifically for the largest under-recognized minority within our country's student population. The authors polled thousands of individuals and groups, centering their survey on the question,Would you recommend your school to other lesbian, bisexual and gay people? The result: profiles of life at 175 institutions nationwide, with specific information on the climate and special services for gay, lesbian and bisexual students and the prevalence of anti-gay violence and harassment. Studies estimate that 1 in 6 college students is gay, lesbian, or bisexual. The presence, role, and acceptance of these students has received much attention in recent years. Yet there exists no resource by which they can judge the climate at the nation's schools. The first book to evaluate the college and university experiences of gay, lesbian, and bisexual students, this volume gives voice to the largest under-recognized minority on the nation's campuses. Based on the results of a questionnaire that was sent to several thousand individuals and groups nationwide, the guide supplies information on how colleges respond to gay, lesbian, and bisexual students, what services students are offered, and what the atmosphere is for them at these institutions. Most importantly, students were asked whether or not they would recommend their schools to other lesbian, bisexual and gay people. Also for the first time, information from students all across the country regarding victimization by anti-gay violence and harassment is collected here, revealing a victimization rate nearly three times the national average for students in college. Containing information on over 175 institutions, this book will be a vital resource to transfer students, high school seniors deciding upon a college, graduate school applicants, administrators, guidance counselors, faculty, admissions officers, students affairs offices, and parents.