Current and former Harvard employees say that these departures are compounded by the University’s shortcomings in promoting the academic discipline of LGBTQ studies. They predict that the LGBTQ campus community may suffer if Harvard does not actively recruit LGBTQ faculty members and administrators to replace the ones who have left.

“This was not meant to imply some grand conspiracy about Harvard's support for LGBTQ faculty members or staff or LGBTQ studies,” McCarthy said of his Facebook post. “My concern here is that we've lost these people, and so far we haven't replaced any of them with folks that are similarly equipped to do the work that they did for LGBTQ students and for LGBTQ studies.”

‘AN AFFIRMING PLACE’?

Campus Pride, a nonprofit advocacy group for LGBTQ life on college campuses, gave Harvard a 4.5 rating out of five stars on its most recent LGBT-Friendly Campus Climate Index, which evaluates institutions of higher learning.

Dean of the College Evelynn M. Hammonds points to this rating and recent College initiatives as evidence of Harvard’s commitment to fostering LGBTQ life on campus.

In the fall of 2010, Hammonds convened a working group to assess the undergraduate LGBTQ community’s needs. A year and a half later, that committee of administrators, faculty, and students produced a report that included five recommendations for improving resources for LGBTQ students on campus. Based on that report, Hammonds announced plans to open a new Office of BGLTQ Student Life and to hire a full-time director to oversee the office.

Those plans hit a road bump when Forest abruptly turned down the job. In her absence, Emily J. Miller, a student at the Divinity School, oversaw the grand opening of the office as interim director this past spring.

None of the gay faculty and administrators interviewed for this article said they felt personally oppressed or persecuted on campus, and several who attended the College said they thought Harvard has become a significantly better place to be gay since their undergraduate years.

“I could not have chosen a more inclusive and supportive community in which to work,” McIntosh said of his experience as a gay Harvard administrator in an email.

But Lekus said that he did not always feel supported as a gay faculty member during his three years at Harvard.

“My gut feeling is that Harvard is the gayest place I’ve ever been either as a student or a teacher, but I wouldn't ever say it's an affirming place,” Lekus said. “Given how many committed LGBTQ allies there are in the University leadership, there is a failure to translate that to direct support, continuing to hammer home the impression that we are second-class citizens of the Harvard community.”

Divinity School professor and Lowell House Co-Master Diana L. Eck, who is openly lesbian, said she has always felt valued as LGBTQ faculty member. But she said she thought more work could still be done to make Harvard a welcoming place for LGBTQ employees.

“I’m sure we can do more to support gay faculty,” Eck said. “That's something that really has to come from a broad consensus of faculty throughout the University.”

Lekus said he thinks the recent establishment of a BGLTQ director and an Office of BGLTQ Student Life was long overdue–“the sign of a campus that is a follower, not a leader” on LGBTQ issues, he said.