American University is currently the only D.C. school to hold a perfect, five-star rating on Campus Pride’s LGBT-Friendly Campus Climate Index.
Campus Pride is a nonprofit organization that works to promote a safe LGBT learning environment on college and university campuses.
On Aug. 8, Campus Pride announced that 33 college campuses across the United States now hold a five-star rating, including AU, which jumped from 4.5 to 5 stars this year.
Campus Pride’s LGBT-Friendly Campus Climate Index rates schools based on their responses to a variety of questions related to LGBT life and issues: Academic Life, Student Life, Policies and Practice, Campus Safety, Housing and Residence Life, Counseling and Health Services, and Recruitment and Retention Efforts.
Queers & Allies Executive Director Jill Altman said she thinks the positive score makes a big difference for incoming students and their parents. The index goes beyond word of mouth and shows that AU is actually LGBT-friendly, she said.
Director of the GLBTA Resource Center Sara Bendoraitis said she was able to report improvements in LGBT housing options in recent years, specifically gender-neutral/single occupancy restroom facilities in campus housing.
“I think that for parents who have accepted their children, their biggest fear is harassment,” Altman said. “So to know that they’ll be in a college community away from home that is safe, I think will make them feel a lot better.”
Although AU currently holds a perfect five-star rating, that is an overall score based on a number of different factors. When broken down, AU received five stars in all of the categories except for Housing and Residence Life and Campus Safety, for which the campus earned 4.5 and 3.5 stars, respectively.
Even though AU earned a perfect score overall, the University received only 3.5 stars for LGBT Campus Safety because the questions relating to campus police training for sexual orientation issues and gender identity/expression issues were both marked “no.” Bendoraitis said she marked “no” because the questionnaire is answered from the perspective of the Resource Center, which provides Safe Space and Trans 101 training, but does not offer mandatory training for Public Safety officers.
Public Safety Captain Norman Bailey, manager of patrol operations, disputed the 3.5-star rating, which he said is “technically incorrect” because Public Safety currently receives basic training from Metropolitan Police Department’s Gay and Lesbian Liaison Unit as part of a consortium of D.C.-area universities. The training includes clarification on terms such as “transgender,” “gender identity” and “gender expression,” and officers are trained in how to deal with issues ranging from domestic violence to harassment and assault.
In addition, Bailey said Public Safety officers are strongly encouraged to participate in Safe Space and Trans 101 training through the Resource Center. Bendoraitis said she usually sees a few officers at each training session.
“I think next year when we do the evaluation, there will be very different answers,” Bendoraitis said.
llandau@theeagleonline.com
