Elmhurst College added an optional question to their 2012 application for admission asking if students are members of the LGBT community. Staff members from Elmhurst will discuss the origins of adding the question, outreach efforts to assist LGBT students in their transition to college, and their work with EQUAL (the College’s gay/straight organization). In addition, they will address the media attention to the question, the campus support and communication plan for LGBT students, and what they’ve learned from student reaction to the question.

1. Elmhurst College and the LGBT
Application Question
Moderator: Stephanie Levenson, Director of Admission
Presenters: Gary Rold, Dean of Admission
Christine Grenier, Associate Director of Admission

2. 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

3. 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

4. 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.

5. 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.

6. What Happened Next?
• The media descended during Orientation
• 11 Interviews in one day. To date? 21+
• TV, Newspaper, Internet, Blogs, Telephone Calls, Emails, Letters

7. 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.”

8. “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.”

9. “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.”

10. Other Feedback
• Trustees
• Alumni
• Other Institutions
• Duke
• Lafayette
• Utah
• California State System

11. 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.

12. 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

13. 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

14. Conversations About Coding
• Which screen should host the information?
• Demographics, Special Interest?
• Special security issues or concerns?

15. 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?

16. 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

17. Future Considerations
• How do we serve the LGBT student?
• Safety
• Comfort
• Housing during Campus Breaks

18. What Else Are We Doing?
• Integrated Marketing • Connecting students to
Approach with regards to EQUAL student group
visibility in through phone and email.
viewbooks, ads and letters
to public.
• SAFE training for all
• Diversity programming in RAs, RLCs, OSLs
the residence halls.
• SAFE meetings to continue
• LGBT Programming the discussion
• Big Gay Gathering
• William R. Johnson
Lecture
• Pride Week
• Pride Parade
• Guest Lecture: Dan
Savage

19. • Testimonial videos
• Students
• Faculty
• Staff
• Alumni
• It Gets Better video
• On campus resources
• External resources

20. 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.

21. Question and Answer