Princeton: Two-Thirds of Ivy League Adopt Gender Protections

Princeton: Two-Thirds of Ivy League Adopt Gender Protections


+ Princeton = Two-Thirds Ivy League Adopt Gender Protections

WASHINGTON (May 10, 2006) According to GenderPAC's GENIUS Index, almost
two-thirds of the nation's most elite institutions of higher education
have added "gender identity" and "gender expression" to their
non-discrimination policies within the past four years. Last week, Princeton
University joined fellow Ivy League schools Brown, University of
Pennsylvania, Cornell and Harvard in formally banning discrimination based on
gender identity.

"Adding 'gender identity and expression' to the non-discrimination
policy was a very tangible way for Cornell to show its support for all
members of the student body and staff," said Erica Kagan, a Cornell
University graduate and participant in the GenderYOUTH Network, a
collaboration of 200+ student leaders on 45 campuses. "Changing this policy really
provided us as student activists - and administrators - the opportunity
to discuss how gender identity and expression affects all of our
lives."

Yale University, whose student government approved a resolution calling
on the administration to include gender identity and expression in the
University's official nondiscrimination policy, is poised to become the
sixth Ivy to adopt the protections. Ivies Dartmouth College and
Columbia University do not include gender-based protections as part of its
current non-discrimination policies.

"The progress among the 'Ivies' is really part of a larger trend among
schools to guarantee they're safe places for all students regardless of
gender expression or sexual orientation," said Tyrone Hanley,
GenderPAC's Youth Program Coordinator. "A recent study by the Gay Lesbian
Straight Education Network found that LGBT students who experience frequent
harassment are twice less likely to pursue a higher education. And
administrators in the nation's top schools are realizing that ensuring that
campuses are safe places for all students to live, learn and grow is
not only good policy, it's also good sense."

GenderPAC has found that 56 colleges and universities have added gender
identity and expression protections to their non-discrimination
policies in the past ten years. All 56 schools also ban discrimination based
on individuals' sexual orientation. A complete list of all of the
identified institutions, is available on GenderPAC's web site at
http://www.gpac.org/genius.

"Gender identity" is a sense of being male or female, and "gender
expression" is how we manifest feeling masculine or feminine by how we look,
act and dress; while 'sexual orientation' is a romantic attraction to
one sex or the other.

GENIUS (Gender Equality National Index for Universities & Schools) is a
nationwide report card that tracks and evaluates colleges,
universities, and local school boards on their non-discrimination policies and
practices on gender identity and expression. Schools are also evaluated on
additional criteria - including gender-neutral restrooms and
gender-blind housing - that ensure campuses are safe and welcoming for all
students and staff.


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The GenderYOUTH Network is a collaboration of over 200 student leaders
on 45 campuses in two dozen states working to ensure that their school
is a safe place for all students to live, learn and succeed.

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