You step up to the mailbox, eagerly anticipating the letter that will decide the rest of your life. The anxiety from months of waiting will finally subside, the hours of guessing finally finished. Thick packet or thin envelope, dreams coming true or dashed completely. Will the years of studying and activities pay off? Open the lid and peek inside. There sits your packet! Congratulations, you’ve just been accepted to college.
As that scene plays out for many high-school seniors across the country, feelings of elation will soon shift to more practical matters. Questions will arise like how to pay, what to study and what life will be like. No matter how well-adjusted a person is, the transition from high school to college is dramatic. And for LGBT students, it has an even greater cause for concern.
“Will I fit in?” is more than merely making friends and adjusting to the lifestyle when it comes to gay students. Many have yet to come out and will be meeting other gay people for the first time in their lives. Some will move from conservative areas to places more liberal, and vice versa. Homophobia, sensitivity and curiosity — no matter how much experience an 18-year-old has — can be overwhelming. As such, it helps to know what resources colleges have for their LGBT students.
Now that sites like Facebook have become so popular, it’s pretty easy to search for different student groups at any college. Incoming freshmen can join their respective college networks months before they step foot in a classroom, and even start an “Incoming LGBT Freshmen” group if they so desire. Along with student groups, many university LGBT offices have their own Facebook groups as well.
Once a student gets to college and the computer veil comes off, things can get a little trickier. If the college has an LGBT office, it can offer resources such as coming-out or networking advice. Depending on the campus, meeting other LGBT students can be easy coasting or more difficult than final exams. Some might simply go about their lives and try to fit in as much as possible. For many, this might include joining a fraternity or sorority.
My college had a pitifully insignificant fraternity/sorority scene, so I don’t have firsthand experience. But the folks over at the Lambda 10 project (www.lambda10.org) certainly do. The project focuses on increasing the visibility of LGBT students who have chosen to go Greek. Along with promoting the issue, the site is a great resource for brothers, sisters and those who have decided to rush.
Visitors can read about the gay history of fraternities and personal accounts of LGBT members. They can get advice on how to come out of the closet to their fellow members, as well as how to deal with others who choose to come out. The brave can see pros and cons of rushing as an openly gay student. And everyone can read about how to make fraternities and sororities more accepting. The site also includes listings, a bulletin board, shopping and chat for members.
For those not interested in brother or sisterhood, there are other resources one can check out. The Campus Pride site (www.campuspride.org) is for LGBT students and offices, and discusses issues ranging from trans advocacy, athletics, religious universities and military recruitment. And the Consortium of Higher Education LGBT Professionals site (www.lgbtcampus.org) has a great directory of college LGBT offices and job listings, as well as resources for issues like crisis response, programming and outreach.
Stereotype or not, we often hear people reflecting fondly on their college years, wanting to return to that time of cramming, craziness and community. But let’s not forget it isn’t a picnic for everyone, especially those just beginning. So, to all the newly accepted freshmen, experienced or not: Good luck, and hopefully you’ll join in the nostalgia in the years to come.
Contact Jason with feedback at [email protected].