LGBTQ-inclusive question added to Duke application

Duke University has become one of a handful of universities nationwide to add an LGBTQ-inclusive question to its admissions application.

The optional question gives prospective students the chance to explain their sexual orientation or gender identity, community, family or cultural background.

Christoph Guttentag, dean of admissions at Duke, said the push to include the question originated from students and members of the university community.

“I had several conversations with undergraduate students, spoke with the Center for Sexual and Gender Diversity,” Guttentag said. “It was a fruitful conversation and the impulse, the request to add it, came from the Duke community.”

Guttentag said the purpose of the question is to help students feel comfortable enough to be open with the admissions board.

“We want students to tell us what they think is important for us to know,” Guttentag said. “And for some students, their sexual orientation and gender identity is a part of what they want to share with us.”

Mitchell McAllister, a UNC junior, said he is glad to see Duke add the question, but he worries that it won’t be used to its full potential.

“Someone who comes from a supportive family will answer it. But someone who doesn’t probably won’t,” McAllister said. “Either they’re not out to themselves or their parents, and they don’t want them to see (the answer).”

McAllister said when he applied to colleges he was unsure of including his sexual orientation on his application because he was afraid it would hinder his chances of being accepted.

“If (students) saw a question like that, that sheds it in a positive light, they might not be afraid to talk about themselves,” McAllister said. “I would have been able to write (my sexual orientation) on there and said a bit more about myself.”

Stephen Farmer, vice provost for enrollment and undergraduate admissions at UNC, said in an email that the University wants application prompts that are designed to encourage the same kind of understanding that Duke’s question elicits.

“I think Duke’s new optional prompt is very well done,” he said. “It’s inclusive not only of sexual orientation and gender identity, but also of any other aspect of a student’s experience or identity that the student believes to be important.”

But McAllister said most students probably wouldn’t put their sexual orientation or gender identity on an application if it was not explicitly stated.

The response to Duke adding the question has been supportive, Guttentag said.

“I could probably count on the fingers on one hand the negative responses,” he said. “The response has been overwhelmingly positive by a factor of 5 to 1 or 10 to 1.”

state@dailytarheel.com