With the recent, and much needed, focus on human rights and equality of many Americans these past couple of days, I thought it was important to see how America's colleges are aligning with these efforts in regards to the LGBT community.
I did a search for LGBT on The Chronicle of Higher Education and found very little relevant information, which is disheartening. However, I was proud to be part of the BIG 10, as The University of Iowa is seeming to make positive strides in identifying and supporting students in the LGBT community. The article explains that Iowa placed a question on their admissions application regarding whether the student identifies as LGBT. This is in hopes to support the students prior to their arrival on campus by supplying them with campus resources and information and aid in their transition to campus.
I, personally, think this is a great tool to monitor the number of students who identify with this community, so that resources can be provided for them. However, as the article states, there are many who disapprove of this method.
What are your thoughts? Do you think this is a positive progression? Should this concept be adopted by other/all institutions?
Thanks for the post Jordan. I think that resources and support are vitally important, but based on what we know about identity development I'm not sure that checking another box is the best segue into support. Sometimes checking a box makes people feel like they are being confined. I think you mentioned an important issue and I am wanting to know about how this data is used and how it aligns with best practices. --Amira
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