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GLBT @ NCSU
Same-sex couples live in 99.3 percent of all counties nationwide.
History
A survey in 2001 placed NC State in the bottom 20 schools nationally, based on how welcoming the campus is perceived to be for GLBT students. The spring semester of 2003 marked the first official assessment on campus of the climate for gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender students. The assessment was conducted by a graduate student and focused on giving voice to GLBT student perspectives of campus climate.
In March 2002 NC State University was the first recipient of the Voice of Inclusion Gold Medallion Exemplary Program Award from ACPA (American College Personnel Association) for our Project SAFE ally training program.
NC State’s 2004 Student Diversity Climate Survey collected data on a wide range of climate issues. All undergraduate and graduate students were invited/encouraged to provide input, and a total of 3296 undergraduates and 1320 graduate students did so. Of the 3146 undergraduates who declared their sexual orientation, 3045 identified as heterosexual, 99 as gay, lesbian, or bisexual, and 2 as transgender. Of the 1282 graduate students who did so, 1223 identified as heterosexual, 55 as gay, lesbian, or bisexual, and 4 as transgender.
The 2004 campus climate survey revealed that GLBT students are the most likely of all students to feel threat of harm to themselves or their belongings and to experience the highest levels of verbal harassment, particularly in residence halls. These results run counter to our mission at NC State University, and the kind of campus culture we strive to maintain.
The university has had GLBT programs and services (established in 2004), provided part-time by a graduate student in the Department of Campus Activities. Numerous faculty and staff members have been providing voluntary programmatic and advising support to the student organization for almost twenty years.
In the 2006-07 academic year, the GLBT Subcommittee of the University Diversity Advisory Council (UDAC) submitted a proposal to create a gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender (GLBT) center. The UDAC, Student Senate and Faculty Senate endorsed the proposal. On Wednesday January 23, 2008 the GLBT Center officially opened with a ceremony attended by an estimate of 150 people from the gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, and ally communities.
In November of 2007 NC State first participated in the LGBT Campus Climate Index, a national assessment tool through Campus Pride. Without a GLBT Center in place, and minimal support services in place the University was rated a 2 on a scale of 5. By April of 2009 NC State achieved a 4 (76%) out of 5 for the overall campus climate. The areas that we need to focus on in the near future are related to policy inclusion, academic life, housing, counseling and health, and recruitment/retention. We scored well in such areas as safety (96%), institutional commitment (100%), and student life (94%). This report will help us with benchmarking and future assessment related to climate. We also participated in the National Campus Climate Assessment project conducted in the spring of 2009 by Campus Pride and the National Gay and Lesbian Taskforce (NGLTF).
We are currently members of the Consortium of Higher Education LGBT Resource Professionals and the American College Personnel Association (ACPA) Standing Committee for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Awareness.
Click here to download a PDF version of our proposal.
(This information was in part compiled by NC State News Services, January 2008.)