Colleges are working hard to provide an “LGBT-friendly campus.” Penny Starr at CNSNews.com reports the University of Maryland and Virginia Commonwealth University are offering “lavender graduations” to affirm LGBT students -- complete with rainbow tassels.
In a video of the 2011 Lavender Graduation posted on YouTube, Luke Jensen, director of the Lesbian, Gay, Bi-sexual and Transgender Equity Center at the university called it a “celebration.”
“Lavender Graduation is a celebration of the accomplishments of our graduating students who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, heterosexual ally and many, many other names, and those who choose to not identify with any label referencing gender or sexuality,” Jensen said in the video.
Christopher Goins at CNSNews.com adds that another growing trend is “gender-neutral” housing, meaning students of one sex can have dorm roommates of the opposite sex. Princeton, the University of Pennsylvania and the University of Chicago – three of the nation’s Top 10 universities – now offer “gender-neutral housing,” but none of the schools say they are opening up dormitories specifically to transgendered students, as Dartmouth recently announced.
“Our students are not required to report their LGBT status, so we don't have that number,’ Princeton spokesman Martin A. Mbugua told CNSNews.com. “However, you may be aware that Princeton University is an LGBT-friendly campus.”
