LGBT leaders question Duke's top-20 ranking

Amid acclaim and change, Duke's lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community will host Coming Out Week starting Monday.

The week will cap an eventful few months, in which the University was named one of the top-20 schools for gay and transgender students and a new director was hired to head the campus' LGBT Center.

But some students question the accolade, saying a small openly gay population, segmentation among LGBT students and close-minded classmates still hamper gay life on campus.

"Duke has a lot of good policies, but what's really missing compared to what are considered 'gay schools' is a sizable gay student population," said senior Joanna Noble, vice president of AQUADuke-the Alliance of Queer Undergraduates at Duke-and former president of Duke Allies.

"I think we have a lot of students who come here closeted and don't come out until sophomore or junior year," she said.