The UO has earned a spot on Campus Pride’s 2014 Top 50 LGBT-Friendly Colleges & Universities list, making this the seventh year in a row the university has made the list.

The Top 50 list recognizes institutions of higher education that are actively working to improve safety and academic life for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender students on campus. Only schools that earn a top ranking of five stars is included.

The list grew to 50 schools for the first time this year. In previous years the list only included the top 25 colleges and universities, but the UO was prominent on those as well. This year’s announcement that the Ducks have again received the honor was anticipated, but nonetheless celebrated.

“Since Campus Pride has had a list, we’ve been in the top 25,” said Chicora Martin, dean and director of UO’s Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Education Support Services Program . “But it’s a moving target; just because you’re on the list one year doesn’t mean that you will be the next. You have to keep improving your policies and your support.”

The national recognition is validating for Martin and others who have worked to make the UO an accepting place for LGBT students and staff.

“It’s definitely a source of pride,” Martin said of the list. “It’s a great opportunity for the university to say, ‘Yes! Yes! We work really hard at being a campus that actually recruits and encourages LGBT students to come here.’”

Maure Smith-Benanti is the assistant director of the LGBT program and agrees the UO is leading the way for safer, more encouraging and more diverse universities in the region. She acknowledges it’s a collaborative effort between students and faculty.

“We’re pretty proud of the fact that we work hard to stay on the cutting edge. Our students are a huge part of that; we couldn’t be as progressive without them,” Smith-Benanti said. “We’re excited about continuing the conversation and setting the standard for the state.”

—By Nathaniel Brown, Public Affairs Communications intern