There is a debate in the academic community about whether or not schools should add a voluntary question about sexual orientation to their applications. They definitely should. After surviving high school, these gay students deserve a prize!

Most schools already have an optional question about race and ethnicity. Why not one that asks whether or not a student is gay? We all know that colleges accept students to try to get the most diversified population they can. They admit people based on what state they are from, what instrument they can play in the band, and which country their parents come from. Why not try to add a little bit of rainbow to the school colors?

If a student is willing to check the box that says "Yes, I am a big homo" then they are most likely already out. Good for them, but that is no easy feat. Sure, high school sucks for everyone, but it sucks even harder for gay kids. Even in the days of Gay Straight Alliances and greater acceptance, plenty of gay students are taunted, bullied, and marginalized. Some are thrown out of their houses or worse. Even if everyone at home and at school is cool with their orientation, their dating prospects are limited and they don't have many opportunities to socialize with other teens like them.

But that should all change at college, glorious, glorious college where homos abound and just about every hot, muscly frat boy wants to experiment at least once. These kids have earned this paradise!

According to an article from Inside Higher Ed both University of Pennsylvania and Dartmouth are now actively recruiting gay students by using the gay students they already have. Much the same way applicants hear from current students with the same interests as them (potential black students may hear from current black students, potential engineering majors are often contacted by current engineering majors), the ivies are now using queers on campus to convince other gays to pick their school over another.

Right now the schools are using some oblique jury-rigged gaydar (reading student essays, looking at extracurricular activities, asking what kind of shoes they wear) to target their potential gays, but why not come right out and ask them? If these kids survived being openly gay in high school, being asked if they are gay is the least of the indignities they will have faced. And if straight applicants blanch at the question, well, those don't seem like the type of people these schools want in the first place.

After being called a "faggot" for years and being pushed around by the high school bully (who is probably going to come out around his 24th birthday anyway), a little bit of love for these students could go a long way. All you baby gays: You better shut off Logo and do your homework and get a part time job. You have an in, but Yale is not going to be easy to get into and it's not going to pay for itself.

[Image via Getty]