Boston’s Emerson College and Pennsylvania’s Grove City College topped the Princeton Review’s annual list of the most LGBT-friendly and unfriendly colleges in the country, respectively.
Rankings are based on surveys of 126,000 students about their school’s academics, administration, student body and themselves. In addition to a campus’ acceptance of LGBT students, the Princeton Review rates schools on other, highly important criteria, such as the top party schools (Univeristy of Iowa), top stone-cold sober schools (Brigham Young Universty, once again) and most conservative (Auburn University) and liberal (Bennington College) students.
New England and California schools dominated the gay-friendly list, while the South rose again on the unfriendly side of things. However, Asheville, North Carolina’s Warren Wilson College came in at number 2 behind Emerson, outgaying traditionally queertastic sanctuaries of higher learning such as NYU, Yale and Bryn Mawr. In a surprising turn of events, the University of Rhode Island was ranked more unfriendly than not one, but three Texas universities, and the Catholic University of America. We guess no same-sex weddings will be occurring at the RIU’s chapel anytime soon.
Check out the full rankings below:
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20 Most LGBT-Friendly
- Emerson College (Boston, MA)
- Warren Wilson College (Asheville, NC)
- New College of Florida (Sarasota, FL)
- Stanford University (Stanford, CA)
- University of Wisconsin-Madison (Madison, WI)
- Oberlin College (Oberlin, OH)
- Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering (Needham, MA)
- Smith College (Northampton, MA)
- New York University (NY, NY)
- Bryn Mawr College (Bryn Mawr, PA)
- Wellesley College (Wellesley, MA)
- Bennington College (Bennington, VT)
- University of Chicago (Chicago, IL)
- Yale University (New Haven, CT)
- Carleton College (Northfield, MN)
- Sarah Lawrence College (Bronxville, NY)
- Maccalester College (St. Paul, MN)
- Pitzer College (Claremont, CA)
- Marlboro College (Marlboro, VT)
- Grinnell College (Grinnell, IA)
20 Most LGBT-Unfriendly
- Grove City College (Grove City, PA)
- Hampden-Sydney College (Hampden Sydney, VA)
- College of the Ozarks (Point Lookout, MO)
- Wheaton College (Wheaton, IL)
- University of Notre Dame (South Bend, IN)
- Brigham Young University (Provo, UT
- Wake Forest University (Winston-Salem, NC)
- Calvin College (Grand Rapids, MI)
- University of Rhode Island (Kingston, RI)
- University of Dallas (Irving, TX)
- Texas A&M University (College Station, TX)
- Baylor University(Waco, TX)
- Trinity College (Hartford, CT)
- Auburn University (Auburn, AL)
- Colgate University (Hamilton, NY)
- Wofford College (Spartanburg, SC)
- Hillsdale College (Hillsdale, MI)
- Catholic University of America (Washington, D.C.)
- Pepperdine University (Malibu, CA)
- University of Wyoming (Laramie, WY)
Campus Pride warns, however, that you should take these rankings with a grain of salt.
Markusfittt
I’d like to add Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana as an UNFRIENDLY college. They try to be friendly but the student body is composed of many white conservative farming individuals who are extremely homophobic! I as a gay man have even had issues w/local police. And if you don’t believe me, check out Ball Memorial hospital and their insensitive issues!!!
philipj999
I find it interesting that Pitzer is listed as freindly. I attended a college in the Claremont group, of which Pitzer is one. I am surprised that the college I attended is not listed as unfriendly. Pizer was always the most ‘liberal’ of the group.
2eo
Notice the more unfriendly a place is towards minorities the less their qualifications are worth in the marketplace.
JennyFromdabloc
As an alumni of the University of Rhode Island, I should update that a a beautiful new LGBTQ center is being built on campus. And that the schools moniker is URI not RIU. #GoRhody
Hubert
I’m surprised the Wake Forest University ranked 7th in LGBT-unfriendly category. As a gay alumnus and librarian at Wake Forest, I can attest to the progress that has been made in recent years, starting with the establishment of an active LGBTQ center on campus. This has led to open and frank discussions of LGBTQ issues on campus. Additionally, last October, Winston Salem’s gay pride parade included a float sponsored by the University’s ZSR Library and LGBTQ center. The float was flanked by over 100 people from of our campus community.
Leya
I completely disagree with Wake’s ranking on this. As, Hubert said, the university and student body have both made VAST improvements since I started coming to Wake. We now have an active LGBTQA center and a new women’s center, as well as a lot of different programs like the Safe Zone Training and things specifically for the community. Heck, we even voted an openly gay black man as our Student Body President! That would not have happened when I was a freshman here back in 2009-2010.
I’m really really disappointed that none of this was taken into consideration with the rankings. I’m absurdly proud of how far we’ve come in the last four years alone.
DonW
@JennyFromdabloc: And youse gets a great edukashun that teaches you that “alumni” is a plural.
Alan down in Florida
Even back in the early 70s when I spent 4 years there Emerson College was home of the New England Gay Students’ Alliance. Proud that my alma mater is #1 in this.
Leya
Also, I would like to add that these lists were taken from a survey that was 80 questions long. The lists were based off of the answers to a single question out of those 80. Also, it would be interesting to see how many of the students were straight versus members of the LGBTQ community. I would almost bet money that there was a low percentage of members of the LGBTQ community in the sample pool. Therefore, I hardly think that this is based on reliable data.