Compete and Campus Pride publish top-10 list for LGBT-friendly US college athletics

View Campus Pride's 2012 "Top 10" list, click here.

Nominate for Campus Pride's next "Top 10" list, click here.
Campus Pride's “Out to Play Project” is designed to address anti-LGBT slurs, bias and conduct in college sports. As part of the national project, Campus Pride published the first-ever LGBT-Friendly "Top 10" in college athletics in partnership with Compete Magazine.

In partnership with Compete Magazine, Campus Pride’s “Out to Play List” is a compilation of the 10 “Best of the Best” LGBT-friendly athletics programs at colleges and universities across the country. The list was compiled from nominations received nationwide, with each reviewed for its LGBT-inclusion efforts, practices and policy implementation.

“For far too long, no one has known the score when it comes to LGBT-inclusion and friendliness in collegiate sports programs – that changes today,” said Shane Windmeyer, executive director of Campus Pride. “LGBT students today are more out and vocal than ever before and those who are also athletes deserve to know which schools and which athletics programs will respect them for who they are. All students deserve the assurance of safety and inclusion both in the classroom and on the field.”

The schools included in the Out to Play List include (alphabetically): Bates College, Bowdoin College, Bucknell University, Columbia University, Indiana University, Ithaca College, Kennesaw State University, New York University, Stanford University and Whitman College.

Anti-LGBT attitudes and behaviors are prevalent, if not pervasive, in the world of sports. ’Out To Play’ can change all that – by starting in college and setting the standard,” said Shane Windmeyer, Executive Director of Campus Pride. “If we know the score, everyone will be motivated to play harder – even those farthest behind.”

The top 10 list is the first resource in Campus Pride’s ongoing Out to Play Project. In Fall 2012, the organization will release the most comprehensive national collegiate research report sharing the experiences of nearly 500 self-identified LGBT athletes and providing necessary resources for further progress on LGBT issues in college athletics. More information, please email info@campuspride.org

See also Outsports' comments on the list HERE.