SPORTS
Athlete Ally Grades LGBTQ Inclusion in NCAA
PAC 12, Big 10 schools shine; SEC schools disappoint in second edition of rankings
BY MATT TRACY
Athlete Ally, an organization
dedicated to achieving
equality for LGBTQ
athletes at all levels,
unveiled its latest Athlete Equality
Index report examining inclusivity
and policies at 65 schools in the
NCAA’s Power 5 conferences.
The report graded schools based
on factors including nondiscrimination
policies, LGBTQ resources,
fan code of conduct, LGBTQ inclusivity
campaigns or initiatives,
policies for trans student-athlete
inclusion, student-athlete initiatives,
events supporting LGBTQ
inclusion, and the presence of out
or Athlete Ally-trained athletic
staff members.
The report marked the second
time Athlete Ally produced the
Athlete Equality Index after rolling
out the fi rst edition in 2017.
Ohio State University was one of eight schools that received a score of 100 in Athlete Ally’s Equality Index.
The biggest difference between
the grading factors in the 2017
report and the 2019 report was
that the latest one measured LGBTQ
events and “cross-campus
partnerships,” which represents
collaborations between athletic
departments and the campus’ LGBTQ
groups.
PAC 12 and Big 10 schools
scored the best, with those institutions
averaging grades of 83.5 and
83.3, respectively. The ACC trailed
behind at 79.4, followed by the Big
12 at 69.8 and the SEC at 65.6.
The SEC and Big 12 consist mostly
of schools in the South, where Republicans
overwhelmingly control
state governments and resist LGBTQ
rights advances. Still, schools
in those two conferences, most
of them public institutions, saw
their average scores improve by 11
points and 8.7 points, respectively,
since 2017.
A cross-section of schools —
from all different parts of the country
— earned scores of 100. Those
schools included Duke University
and the University of Miami in the
ACC; Ohio State University, Indiana
University, and the University
of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in
WIKIMEDIA COMMONS/ SAM HOWZIT
the Big 10; the University of Texas
at Austin in the Big 12; and the
University of California, Berkeley
and the University of Southern
California in the PAC 12. No SEC
schools earned top scores.
That list expanded signifi cantly
from 2017, when just three of those
educational institutions — Ohio
State, Berkeley, and USC — boasted
scores of 100. The improvements
are evident in other categories,
too. Eighty-one percent of the
schools examined in the study had
an out or Athlete Ally-trained staff
member in their athletic department,
and 12 schools — up from
fi ve in 2017 — now have a fan code
of conduct protecting against anti-
LGBTQ language.
The school that saw the biggest
boost from 2017 was the University
of Pittsburgh, which saw its score
climb from 48 to 85. But others
also upped their game: Boston College
jumped 32.5 points, Purdue
improved from 67.5 to 95, the University
of Iowa moved from 55.5 to
95, and Syracuse University shot
up 20 points to a score of 85.
The improvements could be
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