Ohio State ranks as one of the top 19 universities in the nation for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender friendliness entering the 2010-2011 academic year.

Campus Pride, a non-profit organization advocating safe and LGBT-inclusive campuses, evaluated OSU’s LGBT-friendly policies, programs and practices based on a questionnaire OSU voluntarily submitted.

With a five-star ranking, OSU joined 250 universities included in the latest LGBT-Friendly Campus Climate Index.

“I think Ohio State has a very good history of reaching out and supporting GLBT students,” said Jim Hodnett, a senior psychologist for OSU’s Counseling and Consultation Services. “I think we were really a pioneer in that, even dating back to the 1970s.”

OSU remained formally unrecognized by Campus Pride until Tim Valentine, founder of a social event for LGBT college-aged students called Fusion Friday, formed a committee that discovered OSU met the website’s requirements for inclusion.

Results show that after 40 years, OSU is still a leader in the LGBT-friendly college community.

The questionnaire assessed academic life, student life, policies and practice, safety, residence life, counseling and health services, and recruitment and retention efforts.

Sterling Field, a second-year in microbiology and plant cellular and molecular biology, said OSU, especially staff of the Multicultural Center, provides an abundance of opportunities.

Angie Wellman, intercultural specialist for LGBT student initiatives, said in an e-mail, “Through the programming offered at the Multicultural Center, and by making them aware of services available across campus and within the Central Ohio community, we have been very intentional … about trying to meet those needs.”

October marks LGBT History Month, and the Multicultural Center organized film screenings, meet-and-greets, informative panels and social gatherings. The center will also recognize National Coming Out Day on Monday, according to the center’s website.

Several LGBT-supportive student organizations are active on campus, ranging from general and specific to rank, major and ethnicity.

Amanda Bragdon, a fourth-year in political science and women studies and a Human Rights Campaign co-chair, said the campaign is the largest LGBT organization on campus and one of three in the nation to provide a voice and advocate equality for students.

“I believe it’s very important for students to get involved on campus because not only are we at one of the top academic universities in the country, but we are among the most diverse,” Bragdon said. “A student organization brings about the sense of community that I think a lot of people are looking for.”

Past students also praise OSU’s LGBT inclusion.

“I definitely agree with the ranking,” said Valentine, an OSU graduate. “One of the really strong benefits is that we have a strong alumni and business community that supports the students.”

OSU has one of the only LGBT-specific alumni associations in the country, Field said. According to the Scarlet and Gay LGBT Alumni Society website, the organization offers seven scholarships worth $1,500 each to encourage diversity in the student body.

OSU also offers non-discrimination policies, insurance coverage for hormone replacement therapy and counseling services, according to Campus Pride.

Hodnett, coordinator for two free support groups for gay men, said there is also one for lesbian women offered this quarter. Members discuss coping with homophobia, building relationships and dealing with the “coming out” process.

“Everybody on staff here is GLBT-affirming and well-trained in working with GLBT clients,” he said. “I would hope that any students that are of same-sex orientation would feel very safe coming here.”

He said OSU could still improve LGBT-friendliness in the athletic department and partner benefits on the Student Health Insurance Plan.

Campus Pride identified the absence of LGBT housing options for students on campus.

The Human Rights Campaign is working with the Undergraduate Student Government to create an LGBT Living and Learning Community for the future, Bragdon said.

The living environment could provide LGBT students with a built-in support system.

“In some cases, support is a matter of life and death,” Hodnett said. “I think the four suicides in the last months of teenagers who were bullied and harassed for being gay is really a kind of tragic and emphatic illustration of that.”

Students heard anti-gay sentiments from the Westboro Baptist Church members on Monday, and LGBT supporters on campus made their presence known.

“One important thing is just to come to terms with themselves,” Hodnett said, “come to have good self-esteem and to like themselves in spite of all the messages out there in society that there is something wrong with them.”

A full list of campuses can be found at campusclimateindex.org.