Three University of Wisconsin System schools were named the “Best of the Best” colleges for LGBTQ+ students on the annual list by Campus Pride, a resource dedicated to tracking LGBTQ-friendly policies, programs and practices in higher education.

UW-Eau Claire, UW-Green Bay and UW-Milwaukee were chosen, along with 37 other universities. This is UW-Eau Claire’s fifth consecutive year of winning the award.

Olga Diaz, vice chancellor for equity, diversity, inclusion and student affairs at UW-Eau Claire, said that it’s an honor to be recognized as an inclusive campus.

“Decades of groundbreaking work that started with student leaders has shaped the campus culture to embrace and celebrate our LGBTQ+ students and employees,” Diaz said. “I am proud of the leaders who do this work with purpose and passion. They make a positive impact well beyond our campus.”

All three universities received a perfect five out of five stars for their overall LGBTQ inclusion. Some categories for these ratings include sexual orientation, gender identity/expression, student life, campus safety and more.

“While the infrastructure for queer students has been led from the [Gender & Sexuality Resource Center], we have collaborators and allies across campus,” said Kallie Friede, interim director of the GSRC at UW-Eau Claire.

Friede said she’s looking forward to continuing the work already being done on campus. They’ll also look to expand and change services to meet the needs of new and future students.

The Campus Pride Index launched seven years ago and includes more than 230 college campuses.

“LGBTQ youth and families want to know what campuses are doing when it comes to inclusive policies, programs and practices,” said Shane Windmeyer, executive director of Campus Pride and creator of the Campus Pride Index.

And the free-of-charge index allows people to see what campuses are doing a good job. The full list of universities recognized by Campus Pride in their 2022 list can be found here.