Two weeks ago, Elmhurst College, a private liberal arts school outside Chicago, made headlines when it chose to add an extra question to its undergraduate application for the 2012-13 academic year: ‘Would you consider yourself to be a member of the LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgendered) community?’

The inclusion of the question is considered to be a historical feat and a progression for the LGBT movement, as Elmhurst College is the first college in the nation to inquire about a student’s sexual orientation on an application for admission. The question is optional, with a ‘prefer not to say’ choice, and is grouped with questions regarding religious affiliation and languages spoken besides English.

Sexual orientation was asked to help students feel more comfortable and to identify their interests and needs.

Upon answering, students would have the option to be put in touch with a student-run organization known as Straights and Gays for Equality, just as a student identifying themself as black could be put in touch with the Black Student Union.

‘It’s highly confidential and completely optional. Some students might answer and others might not,’ said Gary Rold, Elmhurst’s dean of admissions. ‘And if they do, we just want to be able to support them and make them feel comfortable so that they can focus on their education.’

The responses to the question have been mixed. College students, as well as members of the LGBT community, have been supportive, but older generations seemed to react negatively, Rold said. The negative responses have mainly been submitted anonymously.

‘The same thing happened when the idea of asking about race and ethnicity was suggested — we’re just crossing a different bridge,’ Rold said. ‘And we don’t mean to advance civilization; we just want to support our students.’

The process to include the question on the admissions application began a little more than a year ago, when SAGE began to push for more support from the college’s administration. The college then organized an event for LGBT high school students at area schools by sending out invitations to their school counselors.

About 40 or 50 students showed up to the event, which was extremely successful, Rold said. The administration began to brainstorm ideas on how to make LGBT students feel even more comfortable and less overwhelmed at school, so they decided to start asking students to identify their orientation upon entering.

‘In addition to signaling to prospective students who identify as LGBT that this is a welcoming campus, I believe it also signals to all applicants that this is an institution that values difference and understands that a more diverse educational environment is a richer one for all,’ said Eileen Sullivan, dean of students at Elmhurst.

Sullivan, said that students’ characters are positively affected by exposure to difference. She gave the example of a white 18-year-old boy from an environment without diversity being assigned a black student as a roommate. The white student’s perspective changes as he learns of a different culture, she said.

‘I love to see how the college experience can change learned behavior and, in some cases, learned bigotry, and (it) really has a chance of breaking a learned cycle of hate and discrimination,’ Sullivan said.

The Common Application, which provides college applications used by 400 universities across the nation, declined the proposal that similar identity questions be asked in their national application, according to Campus Pride, a national organization advocating for more LGBT-friendly college settings.

‘If students want to identify themselves with the LGBT community, they should have the option to do so,’ said Shane Windmeyer, Campus Pride’s executive director. ‘And they should be able to do it through a university form, just as they can with race, ethnicity and religion.’

meltagou@syr.edu

Published on September 7, 2011 at 12:00 pm

Contact Marwa: meltagou@syr.edu | @marwaeltagouri