Columbia Pride

Columbia College Chicago wouldn’t be the place it is without our LGBTQIA+ faculty, staff, students, and alumni.

Columbia values an open, affirming, and welcoming environment for all our students.

We are proud that nearly one-third of our undergraduates who’ve chosen Columbia in the last four years have self-identified as members of the LGBTQIA+ community. These students come to us from all over the world. Some come from communities where they’ve been able to live openly in acceptance, while some arrive at Columbia and find their first opportunity to live as their authentic selves.

Our alumni shape what’s next in creative industries and use their voices and talents to share the LGBTQ+ experience and perspective.

To those who support and/or identify with the LGBTQIA+ community: We see you, we stand beside you, you are valid, you are valued, and we embrace you in all your humanness.

To see our diverse creative community and their accomplishments, check out a clip from Manifest, and watch last year's video from the Chicago Pride Parade.

Shape What’s Next.

pie chart displaying that one third of enrolled students at Columbia self-identify as members of the LGBTQIA+ community

Overall enrolled students who self-identified as members of the LGBTQIA+ community

Photo of Kristen Kelley

Kristen Kelley '15


(She/They/Theirs)


Director of Programs at LGBT Tech

“Columbia gave me the tools and space to embrace my identity and was the first place where I felt empowered as a queer neurodivergent student.”

Photo of Kat Kamarulzaman

Kat Kamarulzaman '23


(She/Her/Hers)


Music Technology Major

“As a queer, biracial woman, I don’t have to censor myself at Columbia. I’m allowed to be as expressive as I want, as artistic as I want, and as gay as I want.”

Photo of Eric Wordlow

Eric Wordlow


(He/Him/His)


Assistant director, career center

“I get to show up as my authentic self each workday in a place I feel safe and supported. Columbia creates a space that allows its employees to show up whole.”

Photo of Daniel Levin

Daniel Levin '23


(He/Him/His)


Creative Writing Major

“I had to fight for who I was for so long but when I got to Columbia I didn’t have to fight anymore, I could just be.”

Columbia College Chicago at Pride 2023

Columbia College Chicago at Chicago Pride Parade 2023