8/19/2010: UO has failed to make the Sierra Clubs list of America’s 162 greenest campuses, a.k.a. “Cool Schools”. (The Dog comments that it’s likely no one at UO bothered to complete the survey). Obviously we will now need to further increase administrative spending on sustainability. Or not – Scott Carlson has a piece in the Chronicle on how messed up this particular ranking scheme is – these criticisms apply to all the other green/sustainability/LEEDS schemes I’ve looked at as well.
On the other hand, Oregon was recently ranked as the #1 “LGBT friendly” school. I was curious about what this ranking was based on, so I looked at the questions, here. Some examples:
Does your campus prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation by including the words “sexual orientation” in its primary non-discrimination statement or Equal Employment Opportunity policy?
Does your campus offer health insurance coverage to employees’ same-sex partners?
Does your campus have a full-time professional staff member who is employed to support LGBT students and increase campus awareness of LGBT concerns/issues as 50% or more of the individual’s job description?
Does your campus regularly hold social events specifically for LGBT students?
Does your campus have any student organizations that primarily serve the religious/spiritual needs of LGBT students (e.g. Unity Fellowship for Students, Gays for Christ, LGBT Muslims)?
Pretty specific and to the point questions, all in all. I am guessing there are still some people on campus who are embarrassed by UO’s place in this ranking. Interestingly, it’s one of the few things at UO that OIED Diversity VP Charles Martinez is not claiming credit for. What embarrasses me are the inane sustainability ranking schemes. These people are still arguing over how many solar cells you need to slap on a building to call it green. Food from within 100 miles is local, not from 150 miles. WTF? They should take a look at the LGBT survey to get some idea about how to ask questions that measure the sorts of things that actually improve people’s quality of life.
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