1. Denison University (Granville):

Denison University was #3 on The Princeton Review of the least amount of tolerance for gay students on campus. The university offers an organization called Outlook that promotes awareness regarding LGBT issues, and also started the Safe Zone program last spring, but the school does not have an office for LGBT services.

Students are not necessarily comfortable with being openly gay on campus. “I know there are a large number of students in what I like to call the ‘GU’ or ‘gay underground,’ and are only out to a small group of friends,” says Carrie Kortegast, assistant director of Residential Life. “We have dealt with a few incidents of anti-gay graffiti and the expression ‘that’s so gay’ is a common one on campus, but I would not describe the environment on campus as hostile toward GLBT students.”

2. Mount Vernon Nazarene University (Mount Vernon):

Mount Vernon is a private Nazarene university with a total enrollment of 2,337 students. The university offers 36 social organizations, the most popular being the campus ministry groups. No LGBT services are offered for the students. Leah Norris, an employee at the Office of Adult Studies, says the university does not have to offer those kinds of services because it is private.

3. Mount Union College (Alliance):

“I don’t know one gay person here,” says Julie McLhinney, sophomore communication major. “I think if someone was openly gay here it would cause a lot of attention on campus because everyone knows everyone else’s business.” Mount Union is an independent school with 74 social clubs.

As far as LGBT services, “That’s pretty limited for us,” says Susan Denning, Director of Corporate and Foundation Relations. But, the school promotes “Six Guiding Principles,” one of them being diversity. The university has a Black Cultural Center even though there were fewer than 20 black students in the freshman class last year.

4. Miami University (Oxford):

Miami University established a gay-straight alliance group, Spectrum, in 1986 to create a safe environment on campus, and encourage diversity, but Miami still has a long way to go.

“Many students still feel uncomfortable or in danger coming out and accepting their sexual or gender identity,” says Tim Yaczo, a sophomore member of Spectrum. “Most of this pressure stems not from faculty, but from the student body, who, while they understand the concept of diversity and tolerance, rarely practice or employ a safe atmosphere in which one can be themselves. Indifference and apathy for others unlike the majority is the greatest educational and mental plague gay, lesbian, bisexual and trans people face everyday walking out the door at Miami.”

5. Ohio Dominican University (Columbus):

Ohio Dominican University is a private Roman Catholic university with 2,317 enrolled students. The school offers 23 social organizations, including the popular campus ministry group. When asked to speak to someone about the LGBT services offered to the gay community at the school, the operator responded with, “The gay community? Oh my goodness!”

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