Details Lacks Details With LGBT College Article

Written By Doree Shafrir, Details Magazine posted 9/23/10 entitled: "The Ivy League's Big Gay Admission"

It's always wonderful to see mainstream magazines give exposure to the LGBT community. However, the article seems to lack a bit of substance.

Safrir's piece professes that the direct recruitment of LGBT students is a "new movement." Although the title itself may be enough to perk the interest of potential readers, it's really nothing new. Nor is there any "big admission" in the article from Ivy League recruiters.

For one, Ivy League schools like most campuses around the country have been recruiting LGBT students for many years at dedicated events. Additionally, Campus Pride, a non-profit run by Shane Widemeyer has been staging numerous LGBT college recruiting events around the country for quite some time. However, there is no mention in the article whatsoever of this empowering organization.

"From Newsweek to Details Magazine, every commercial outlet wants to tout that they are an LGBT authority when it comes to the LGBT and ally college student experience.   Campus Pride cautions how credible these reports are in articles auch as Details Magazine and even the Newsweek recent LGBT-friendly ranking. We are glad to see so much commericial interest in being 'gay friendly' but  hope prospective college students and families seek out factual resources such as the Campus Pride's CampusClimateIndex.org and our national college fair program," stated Shane Widemeyer of Campus Pride.

Irena Smith said it best:

"In some students' cases sexual orientation can weigh in the admissions committee's decision, depending on how much the student tries to disclose and how much is appropriate," says Irena Smith, a private college consultant in Palo Alto, California. "But I think a student's orientation would also need to feed into something either like a really strong sense of self-awareness or a willingness to organize politically and socially and form a support group or start a gay-straight alliance. I think admissions officers are more savvy than to just say, 'Here's an LGBT kid—we don't have enough of those.' "

Read More http://www.details.com/culture-trends/news-and-politics/201009/gay-lgbt-sexual-orientation-ivy-league-admission#ixzz10qfthhXy