There’s a new ranking Syracuse University can be proud about.

On August 15, SU was ranked on the top 50 list of LGBT-friendly colleges and universities by Campus Pride, an organization that ranks LGBT-friendly colleges and universities based on their own index.

The Campus Pride index includes eight factors, said Rebby Kern, the media, communications and programs manager for Campus Pride, in an email. SU received five stars in six categories: policy and inclusion, support and institutional commitment, academic life, student life, campus safety and counseling and health. It received 4.5 stars for housing and recruitment and retention. The top 50 list was not ranked numerically, but schools were listed in alphabetical order.

Due to a growing number of registered schools, Campus Pride has expanded the list from 25 schools to 50, according to its website.

For Chase Catalano, director of the LGBT Resource Center, inclusion on the list does not mean being able to take a break from the hard work of making SU’s campus as inclusive and welcoming as possible.

“It’s an honor, and it’s great to get the recognition and we still have lots of work that we’re interested in doing,” Catalano said. “We’re invested in using this as a way to inspire ourselves, not to get complacent about it.”

For the LGBT Resource Center, that means improving its traditional programming and events. For this year’s annual LGBT student social, the center is bringing in an ice cream truck to make it a special event and to attract more students to attend.

The LGBT Resource Center and the senate committee on LGBT issues at SU have made it a new priority to discuss trans* inclusion with SU Athletics, Catalano said. If achieved, SU’s campus would only be more inclusive to all sexual orientations and gender identities.

Catalano believes that SU made this year’s list due to a large amount of continued institutional support provided by the university.

“We are very lucky to have faculty, staff, students (and) alumni who are really invested in having the LGBT Resource Center, having a senate committee on LGBT concerns and having an LGBT studies program,” Catalano said.

Roger Hallas, director of the LGBT studies program, was not surprised by SU’s inclusion on the list of LGBT-friendly schools, but believes that the ranking, while a nice recognition, is not as important as SU’s resources for LGBT students.

“It doesn’t matter whether we’re in the top 20, the top 30, the top 50,” Hallas said. “What really matters is are we making the grade in those specific areas of student support, campus life, academic life, quality on the level of Syracuse’s policies as an institution.”

Much like Catalano, Hallas sees the ranking as an opportunity for continued growth and success for the LGBT community on campus. Much of this has to do with the growth of the LGBT studies program.

Created in 2006, SU’s LGBT studies program is already a leading program, especially when looking at LGBT issues on a worldwide scale. After receiving a three-year Chancellor’s Leadership Projects grant from Nancy Cantor, the department hosted two conferences — one in Syracuse in 2010 and one in Madrid in 2011 — which attracted scholars and activists from over 25 different countries.

This large commitment to the LGBT studies program at SU reflects the university’s commitment to the entire LGBT community as a whole, Hallas said.

For Charles Morris, an LGBT studies professor, the ranking did not come as much of a surprise, but was nonetheless a gratifying and deserved recognition of SU’s commitment to academic and social LGBT issues on campus.

Said Morris: “We should all note with thanks that, most importantly, the ranking represents the successful and ongoing labor of community building, social justice initiatives, superb teaching and world class scholarship by LGBT people and their allies across campus.”

See Campus Pride’s press release regarding the top 50-LGBT Friendly Colleges and Universities: http://www.campuspride.org/campus-pride-releases-2014-top-50-lgbt-friendly-list-highlighting-the-best-of-the-best-colleges-universities/

Published on August 26, 2014 at 12:01 am

Contact Brendan: bskrisel@syr.edu