Very little is known regarding campus climate for LGBTQIA+/Two Spirits at Tribal Colleges and Universities (TCUs). The first aim of this dissertation research study was to ascertain if there was a population of LGBTQIA+/Two Spirits at one Midwestern Tribal and Community College. The second aim was to uncover if the campus climate for LGBTQIA+/Two Spirits was warm or chilly. Once the campus climate was discovered, the third and final aim of the study was to determine if there was a significant difference between individual perceptions of campus climate for LGBTQIA+/Two Spirits verses the perceptions of heterosexuals.
An online survey was sent to all members of a TCU. Respondents were asked to provide demographic data and were also asked to either agree or disagree on a 6-point Likert-type scale on 21 questions in the categories of Campus Support, Policy Inclusion, Academic Life, Student Life and Campus Safety. The results showed that there was a population of LGBTQIA+/Two Spirit individuals on campus and that the campus climate was chilly toward those individuals. Responses between heterosexual and LGBTQIA+/Two Spirit individuals’ perceptions were analyzed using a two-sample t-test. The result showed that there were no statistically significant differences between the two groups’ perceptions of campus climate, although this result was likely the outcome of a small sample size.