Creating a More Welcoming Environment for LGBTQ+ Scientists

We present interventions led by graduate students at Columbia University which have directly resulted in a more than four-fold increase in the number of LGBTQ+ students in the department over two years.  First, the presence of an out student as graduate social chair led to previously closeted peers coming out and had a direct, positive impact on the matriculation choices of prospective students. Second, wide adoption of the You Are Welcome Here campaign by department faculty and staff signaled to LGBTQ+ students that they would be welcome in the department without requiring them to come out; this intervention is particularly important for students from backgrounds which may not permit them to be open about their LGBTQ+ identity.  Finally, LGBTQ+ and allied students successfully lobbied for institutional changes that had an immediate impact on quality of life by emphasizing impacts beyond the LGBTQ+ community. These policies include a preferred name policy which applies from application through graduation and a rapid increase in the number of gender-neutral restroom facilities.