Athlete Ally has 20 Campus Chapters nationwide.
Athlete Ally Campus Chapters are groups of student-athletes who are passionate about creating and sustaining LGBTQI+ inclusive athletic communities. Members of campus chapters are ready to take the next step to lead the charge at their school. Interested in starting a chapter? Send us a message here.
Athlete Ally visits colleges, high schools and corporate campuses to educate and empower athletes, coaches, staff, and fans. If you would like Athlete Ally to visit your campus or school to deliver a presentation, workshop or other programs on LGBTQI+ inclusion in sports, send us a message using the form for more information.
Campus chapters decide on and enact programming specific to their campus based on Athlete Ally’s mission. This includes hosting Pride nights, presenting educational workshops on LGBTQI-topics, working to adopt inclusive policies at the school and/or conference level, and advocating for anti-discriminatory policies at a city, state, regional and national level. We work with chapters daily to assess their campus culture to determine appropriate programming.
Starting a chapter gives you the opportunity to connect with a network of other athlete activists across the country who champion LGBTQI+ inclusion at their schools. You will also have the opportunity to connect with Athlete Ally staff and have access to resources to help sustain your campus chapter.
In 2024, all active chapters have access to :
* Bi-monthly meetings that connect you with other campus chapter student leaders and advisors.
* 2024 newsletter featuring campus chapter accomplishments, student leader features, and exciting announcements at Athlete Ally.
* Insider information of the upcoming Athlete Activism Summit in June 2024.
* Media assets, such as permission to use our logo and amplification of your chapter on our social media platforms.
* Nomination to be honored at our annual fundraising event, the Action Awards, which honoring individuals and organizations, including Chapters, who champion LGBTQI+ inclusion in and through sports.
There are three easy steps to get started.
1.) Gain interest from your community
If you’re interested in starting up an Athlete Ally chapter, we recommend having at least 2 – 3 student-leaders who are interested in becoming members. All campus chapters must be overseen by a trusted advisor affiliated with your institution, such as a coach, athletic trainer, administrator, or professor.
2.) Fill out the Chapter Inquiry Form!
After deciding to establish a campus chapter at your institution, please fill out the Chapter Inquiry Form to access Athlete Ally’s support. A member of our team will reach to schedule a meeting and enroll you in our Chapter Newsletter.
3.) Take our Online Course on Starting a Chapter
Our online course on starting a campus chapter includes a collection of resources to help you learn more about the program, determine if a campus chapter is a good fit for your school and how to start organizing your campus chapter. You must complete the module and receive a certificate to be considered an “active” Athlete Ally campus chapter!
Our chapters host workshops and lead discussion about LGBTQ topics in their athletic communities.
Our chapters work within their institution to write and implement LGBTQ inclusive policies for their athletic department and broader college/University. Athlete Ally is happy to help collaborate and provide resources on best practice policies and practices.
Our chapters use their platform to speak out on social justice issues by writing op-eds, taking to social media and sharing their stories.
We are so happy to hear that you are interested in starting a campus chapter! To get started, please fill out the Chapter Inquiry Form and one of our staff members will get in touch with you soon. In the meantime, please take a look at the Chapter Resource Guide.
To maintain your campus chapter, we ask that you must have at least two students and a trusted advisor. Your advisor can be any trusted adult who works at your institution, such as a coach, administrator, professor, and/or an athletic trainer. Once you have found a few members, be sure to share their name and emails with us for our records.
We are so sorry to hear that you are having difficulty getting started. For more information on how to get started, please email sydney.taylor@athleteally.org with your questions and concerns.
Amazing! We are so happy to hear that you are interested in fundraising for us. We have a direct link on our website that permits you to donate directly to Athlete Ally. At this time, we do not have any merchandise for giveaways. We do have an online store and offer discount codes to all of our active chapters.
No. We recommend that you do what is best for your student leaders at your institution. Some students prefer to have their own chapter that exists outside of the athletic department, while others are funded by their department. We consider an active chapter to be any chapter that provides us with proper contact information (at least two student leaders and a chapter advisor) and must attend our bi-monthly meetings starting in 2024.
As of 2024, we are offering bi-monthly zoom meetings with all of our active student leaders and chapter advisors. This is a great way to connect with others who are just as passionate about LGBTQ+ inclusion on college campuses as you.
We recommend that all of our campus chapters have members from multiple graduating classes to ensure that the chapter remains active over time.
These colleges and universities have student-run chapters who work daily to create LGBTQI+ inclusive athletic spaces on campus. Will you join them?
Auburn University
Bucknell University
Columbia University
University of Pennsylvania
Vanderbilt University
UC San Diego
Northeastern University
Brandeis University
Colgate University
Emory University
George Mason University
George Washington University
Grambling State University
Harvard University
Horizon League *
Illinois Wesleyan University
Lafayette College
University of Michigan
Northern Illinois University
Ohio State University
Tufts University
University of Cincinnati
University of Kansas
University of Massachusetts - Boston
University of Miami
University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill
University of Washington
Villanova University
Yale University
*Conference-wide Chapter
As of February 10th, 2025