Campus Pride

IU is one of the nation’s top 25 GLBT-friendliest colleges, according to a list released in August 2012 by nonprofit Campus Pride and the Huffington Post.

“I’m not entirely surprised, because we work very hard at making this a friendly campus, and we get lots of support,” said Doug Bauder, Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender Student Support Services coordinator.

IU also earned Campus Pride’s perfect five-star rating on the GLBT-Friendly Campus Climate Index in the results released in August 2011.

The GLBT SSS fills out a survey each year that evaluates eight topics, including support and institutional commitment, academic and student life, housing, safety, counseling and recruitment efforts.

Only 33 of 291 institutions were given the five-star rating.

The survey mainly includes administrative policies and available resources. It doesn’t address who uses those resources or why.

“Students aren’t just gay, bisexual, lesbian or transgender. There are lots of different identities that are intersecting,” said senior Barton Girdwood, a triple major in Gender Studies, Communication and Culture, and an individualized major in Human Migration and Diaspora studies. “We have lots of resources, but how do we build community?”

If a student is openly gay and Latino, for example, he might go to Latino friends instead of a GLBT center because that community is already supportive of one part of his identity. Collaboration or integration of programs between GLBT SSS and other culture centers could provide increased resources, Girdwood said.

However, the GLBT SSS aims to support students no matter which other groups they identify with.

“GLBT issues are part of the diversity dialogue on campus,” Bauder said. “We have a widespread approach to providing support to gay students.”

Girdwood acknowledged IU has made significant steps in GLBT acceptance but said the University can do more.

“There are some individuals, especially Doug Bauder, that have made IU a very inclusive campus at an administrative and policy level,” Girdwood said. “But there are lots of things that need to be dealt with, and those come into stark light when talking about gender-neutral housing, bathrooms and accessing safe spaces.”

Bauder said the University is also beginning to address quicker updates of records for students who undergo a gender transition during college.

“We’re still learning,” Bauder said. “But this is a great place to do that.”