UW News

August 25, 2015

UW among Campus Pride’s Top 25 LGBTQ-friendly colleges and universities

UW News

The University of Washington is among the 2015 Campus Pride Top 25 LGBTQ-Friendly Colleges & Universities list released Monday.

For seven years, the list has highlighted the most LGBTQ-inclusive colleges and universities around the country. But this is the first year Campus Pride has released a Top 25 list based on new higher LGBTQ benchmarks in its Campus Pride Index. The list is based on responses to the index, a national benchmarking tool which assesses LGBTQ-friendly policies, programs and practices. The UW scored five out of five stars on the Campus Pride Index — one of just nine universities in the nation to hold that distinction.

“This kind of recognition really shows the longevity of UW’s commitment to creating an atmosphere where students, faculty and staff feel like they can bring all of who they are to the campus,” said Jen Self, director of the Q Center, the professionally supported resource, advocacy and mentoring center for queer students and concerns at the UW. “It’s in every aspect of campus. It means that policy’s been changed, housing has been changed and that stuff doesn’t get changed unless there’s ongoing movement on campus to continually revamp and think through the systems.”

There is still plenty to be done, Self said, from adding more general-use restrooms to updating certain administrative forms.

“It’s great that we have five out of five stars, and we still have work to do,” she said. “There’s still little nooks and crannies where we can fine-tune things. These are certain things that have huge ramifications for people’s lives.

“What’s great about this time on campus is that it’s not just the Q Center and queer, two-spirit, and trans faculty and staff who are working on this. Now we have allies on campus thinking about these things and trying to change them.”