San Diego State University has been named to The Campus Pride Index’s “Best of the Best” LGBTQ-friendly colleges and universities in the country.

Thirty colleges and universities across the U.S. made this year’s Best of the Best list. SDSU is the only one in California and one of just two on the West Coast. It’s SDSU’s third straight year on the roster.

An LGBTQ Studies program, LGBTQ living space, a campus resource center and 42 other criteria all get checked off in the five-star rating for 2023, announced recientemente. But insiders say there’s at least one additional attribute outside of policy and staff that makes SDSU a welcoming place for any sexual identity or expression — one hard to measure by the numbers.

“The students,” said Kay Wong, director of The Pride Center. “They really are part of what makes SDSU the best of the best.”

“They are part of who are creating this campus culture and the campus environment that people feel like they can be themselves, that they can be out,” Wong continued. And it contributes, they said, to the comfort SDSU’s LGBTQ+ students feel in the classroom, at Aztec Recreation Center or just walking across campus.

Campus Pride said the “Best of the Best” recognition gives recognition to universities that make an effort “to create a safe and welcoming campus for their LGBTQ+ students faculty and staff.”

“In the current climate, in which LGBTQ+ identities have become political talking points and laws are being weaponized against LGBTQ+ people, the commitment to creating campuses that welcome and protect LGBTQ+ students cannot be taken for granted,” Campus Pride CEO and Executive Director Shane Mendez Windmeyer said in the announcement.

Jessica Nare, SDSU assistant vice president for community & belonging, said the university prioritizes support for LQBTQ+ students across campus, not just with a single program or initiative.

“The fact that we’ve been recognized year after year really demonstrates to me a sustained commitment to LGBTQ+ students,” Nare said, “and that’s really what it takes to change the climate on a campus.”

She said SDSU has a “super-vibrant” LGBT Studies department in the College of Arts and Letters, the Pride Employee Resource Group is one of the largest ERGs on campus, and campus leaders “who are really championing these efforts.”

The Pride Center, located on Campanile Drive, celebrates its 10th anniversary in January, Wong noted. Earlier this year, the center received an award from organizers of San Diego’s annual Pride Parade for Best Youth/Student Contingent, they said, and received recognition from San Diego County Board of Supervisors Chair Nora Vargas.

According to figures submitted by SDSU last year to the website and magazine INSIGHT Into Diversity, about 8% of SDSU students identify as LGBTQ+.

Photo credit: Natali Gonzalez