Colleges ask applicants about sexual orientation and history

Among commonly asked college application questions such as “What activities were you involved with in high school?” and “Why would you like to attend this college?”, several universities including the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the University of Iowa, and Boston University decided to add one more question in their application. This question dealt with an applicant’s sexual orientation. With this information, colleges can formulate programs and services as they track the academic success and enrollment of L.G.B.T.Q. students. This information is kept strictly confidential, and colleges take measures including not transferring the information to a student’s permanent file and hiding this question in the PDF version of an electronic application. By gaining more knowledge of the student demographic, colleges can better accommodate to the needs of L.G.B.T.Q. students and create a more welcoming environment.

Palos Verdes Peninsula associate principal Alicia Foulk said that colleges having this information potentially limit conflicts on campus. According to the Huffington Post, officials of The University of Iowa stated that with this information, they can trace L.G.B.T.Q. graduation rates and housing.

“Colleges ask this to match people better with potential roommates because a lot of the colleges that provide housing do ask specific information before they match students,” Foulk said. “[Colleges] may use this in a positive way to appeal to the applicants and have them actually commit to their school.”

In 2012, 488 students in a pool of 21,500 applicants identified themselves as a part of the L.G.B.T.Q. community in an application for the University of Iowa.

Senior Jamie Lee said the way colleges frame this question may also influence a student’s view on whether the college will be accepting.

“This can influence a student’s decision especially since a student’s sexual orientation is a big part of them,” Lee said.

However, the Common Application board rejected a proposal in 2011 to include sexual orientation on their application, in the belief it might cause unnecessary pressure for the students. In addition, a question about sex history that was previously included in a Clemson University survey was criticized. That survey mandated students to answer about past sex experience and partners, which was seen as intrusive and unnecessary. Sex history is incredibly personal information, and while information about orientation may be used to better the environment for students, the proper uses of an individual’s sex history is limited. Palos Verdes Peninsula Safe School Counselor Christine Lopez said that she could see some potential drawbacks to questions about sexual orientation and history.

“I think there can be potential liability issues,” Lopez said. “It is such personal information, and can be considered discriminatory.”

However, the college administrators have pledged that this information will not work in a negative way for the students. Christine Petruncio, Associate Director of Admission in Elmhurst College, the first college to include a question about sexual orientation in an application, affirms that that this information is purely for aiding the college understands more about the students they are serving on campus.

“The intention for adding the question was to provide a systematic way of inviting students to self-identify as a member of the community for the purpose of awarding our Enrichment Scholarship and to learn more about the students,” Petruncio said. “Knowing who are students are allows us to determine what services, extra-curricular and support services to offer.”

Petruncio said that many students felt this question reassured them that they were enrolling in a safe and supportive environment.

“I have spoken to several students who were delighted to answer the question knowing that the College affirmed their identity and that this was an environment where they would feel welcome and safe,” Petruncio said. “It has helped students identify with the community.”