Elmhurst College and the LGBT Application Question

Moderator: Stephanie Levenson, Director of AdmissionPresenters: Gary Rold, Dean of Admission

Christine Grenier, Associate Director of Admission

Why Did We Ask?

• The History of Our Enrichment Scholarship• “Not limited to race or ethnicity”

• SAGE and EQUAL• Key Student Involvement

• Data collection

• Curiosity about our population

Where Did We Start?

• How did we ask? • 3 Variations of the same question

• Who did we ask?• The President of the College• The IACAC Admission Practices Committee• Our lawyers• Campus Pride-verifying if any one else is doing

this…why recreate the wheel?

• Who did we not ask?• Alumni• Board of Trustees

Why not include the rest of the LGBT alphabet?

• Simply put, we felt that we had to start somewhere.

• We omitted “Queer”, as we learned that “queer” means different things to different people.

• We omitted Questioning because we are looking for affirmative answers to membership of the community.

Then….The Snowball Effect

• After asking Shane Windmeyer of Campus Pride to see if anyone else was allowing students to self identify, Shane asked if he could write a press release about it.

• Our response? ……Sure…um….ok…sounds good.

What Happened Next?

• The media descended during Orientation

• 11 Interviews in one day. To date? 21+

• TV, Newspaper, Internet, Blogs, Telephone Calls, Emails, Letters

Feedback from the Public

“I just read the news about your decision to ask applicants to your institution about their sexual

orientation.  I just sat at my desk and cried a little bit -- tears of joy.”

“My years at the University of Virginia could have been so much more fulfilling if I had been there during a

different time.  A social revolution is happening before our eyes.  Thank you for bringing down another barrier.”

“I will be extremely surprised if your ‘diverse’ institution isn’t 80-90% liberal bias and agenda. … I

believe it is far more important to have a diverse staff teaching diverse views to our young people then to push a pro-gay agenda under the color of diversity.”

“Education has nothing whatsoever to do with the sexual attractions of an individual. Specific notice for people because of their sexual choices is absurd. Is a

LGBT student somehow more qualified, or more interesting, or more meritorious than another hard

working student? Quire frankly, it’s demeaning to a person who is actually successful due to merit?

Shame on you for pandering to the LGBT fad of the day.”

• Trustees

• Alumni

• Other Institutions• Duke• Lafayette• Utah• California State System

Other Feedback

Wait… what are the students saying?

• A heads-up would have been appreciated• They’re glad this wasn’t a publicity stunt, but

would have preferred to know before everyone else did

• Scholarship clarification

• Social support is here. When will academics catch up?

• Where is a staff member whose job it is to relate directly with the LGBT population?

• The student population is secretly divided about the presence of the question on our application.

More Importantly… What Have We Learned?

• Contrary to popular fears, students are not applying in droves just for scholarship monies.

• To no surprise, students identifying as LGBT are no different academically than other students.

• chart

Things to Consider

• As we have moved through the first cycle, we have also been presented with issues that have warranted important and timely discussions.

• Coding and Particular Student Circumstances• Integrated Marketing & Visibility• Campus Support Systems

Conversations About Coding

• Which screen should host the information?• Demographics, Special Interest?

• Special security issues or concerns?

Particular Student Coding Issues

• To Code or Not to Code• a student who is out to

everyone except their parents?

• How to Code• a student whose gender

identity is male but who is biologically female, or a student who is pre-op transexual?

Other Case Based Student Issues

• Homelessness due to coming out

• Pre-op transexual students

• Contacting prospective students who bounce around because of lack of parental support

Future Considerations

• How do we serve the LGBT student?• Safety• Comfort• Housing during Campus Breaks

What Else Are We Doing?

• Integrated Marketing Approach with regards to visibility in viewbooks, ads and letters to public.

• Diversity programming in the residence halls.

• LGBT Programming• Big Gay

Gathering• William R.

Johnson Lecture• Pride Week• Pride Parade• Guest Lecture:

Dan Savage

• Connecting students to EQUAL student group through phone and email.

• SAFE training for all RAs, RLCs, OSLs

• SAFE meetings to continue the discussion

• Testimonial videos• Students• Faculty• Staff• Alumni

• It Gets Better video• On campus resources• External resources

Conclusion

There is none! We are continuing to learn as we go. We are not experts, but we are trying to serve our students

in the best way we can.

We will continue to be open to changing and altering policies and programming as we go along.

Question and Answer