No Condoms On A Catholic Campus

By: Alex Tunney

ALBANY, N.Y., Nov. 11, 2007 – The campus condom availability policy is one example of The College of Saint Rose’s traditions coming in conflict with the views of contemporary society. As of now there are no condoms readily available on campus for students, at least not any officially endorsed by the campus faculty and staff themselves.

“The policy for the campus is that condoms are not allowed to be distributed or made available on campus,” said vice president for Student Affairs Dennis McDonald.

The policy was made by the previous president of the college and it has been readopted by president R. Mark Sullivan. The influence of the Catholic tradition is evident on campus and in the spirit of the policy.

“It flows out of our Catholic heritage,” said McDonald.

Other schools in the area, such as SUNY Albany, have condoms available on campus. Students can buy condoms in packages of 25 for $8 on the campus’ University Health Center pharmacy or buy them from vending machines in residence halls. SUNY Albany also has many programs regarding sexual health according to the Student Success portion of the university’s website.

“We are a college with a Catholic history and tradition,” said Rev. Christopher DeGiovine.

The College of Saint Rose was founded by the Sisters of Saint Joseph of Carondelet as a Roman Catholic college for women in 1920. It was not until 1970 that the Board of Trustees introduced lay people as members of the board. The influence of the Catholic Church and the sisters is felt today on campus.

“The Catholic Community has pretty strong opinions on pre-marital sex, abortion, and birth control,” DeGiovine said. “The [Catholic] teaching does make sense and have value, but you have to balance that with the real world situation.”

DeGiovine views himself as pragmatist. He emphasizes knowledge of the body on all levels: physical, emotional and spiritual. He believes that students should be aware of the toll intimacy can have when a relationship ends.

“If you’re mature enough to engage in sexual activity, hopefully you’re mature enough to walk to the corner drug store to get protection that you need,” said DiGiovine.

DiGiovine was not the only person on the campus to stress personal responsibility.

“Basically, the rationale is that if you engage in sexual activity, you need to accept personal responsibility that comes with it, and that means understanding the consequences for your actions,” McDonald said.

Some students have similar mixed feelings on the policy. Junior Benjamin Knowles, a student currently in the Biology of AIDS class, does not see the problem of having condoms on campus, but feels that removing the responsibility wouldn’t allow students to act as adults.

“It would be a helpful service but if we are college students then I hope I would be correct in assuming that we are adults and make responsible decisions on our own. Part of being a college student is living on your own, and at this point we should be becoming adults and with that comes a certain amount of responsibility,” Knowles said.

DeGiovine recognizes that the answers surrounding sexual health may not be that simple.

“There are people who think my views are very liberal. I like to think of myself as moderate. A very conservative person might want me to say, ‘No condoms, Just don’t have sex.’ On the other side of the spectrum, there are those who want to make it a political issue, that they want condom dispensers in every dorm,” said DiGiovine.

Resident assistants are the people on campus who are mostly likely to deal with this campus policy on a personal level with their residents. It is on this level where possible conflict between the policy and realistic acknowledgement of students having sexual relations.

“The RA staff is encouraged and permitted to discuss personal safety and sexual safety, but we are not allowed to offer ‘sex education.’ It is not something that the school provides, therefore, RA's must abide by the same principles,” said senior Candice Redden, a resident assistant.

Another resident assistant, senior David Addante, also explained the roles RAs play.

“As RAs we are trained to guide students into the right direction if they are having any sexual questions or health issues regarding this topic. It is not our job to counsel the students, but, rather, guide them to seek further assistance at different services that the college provides [such as] Heath Services, The Counseling Center, and the Interfaith Sanctuary,” Addante said.

Health Services on campus do not provide condoms to students either.

“Health Services is committed to providing care and education to our students for all of their health needs. Although we are unable to provide contraceptives, we maintain a wide array of printed educational materials regarding reproductive/sexual health. We are available for one on one counseling for students who may have questions and or concerns and will refer anyone requiring additional services to an appropriate health care provider,” said Sandra Frese, director of Health Services.

Addante offered some alternatives to compensate for the lack of free condoms.

“Students can always not have sex. That would definitely alleviate the issue,” said Addante. “Other methods of birth control include the pill and patch… diaphragms, dental dams, and probably many more that I can't think of right now.”

Not every student or faculty member agrees with the condom policy or is happy with the state of sexual health education on campus.

Some students in the past year organized a sexual health group on campus. The group VOX, part of nation-wide college groups partnered with local Planned Parenthoods in their neighborhood, existed recently for a short time on the Saint Rose campus. At the time of the group’s disbandment the board was made up of president Carolyn Brockmann, vice president Shelby Hickey, secretary Amanda Gannon, treasurer Lauren Byrnes with Doctor Kari Murad, professor of the school’s Biology of AIDS class, acting as advisor. Former secretary, junior Amanda Gannon spoke about the group.

“VOX's goal was to bring awareness about sexual/reproductive health issues, like date rape, reproductive organ/breast cancer, AIDS, STDs, abortion, contraception choices and sexual rights to the Saint Rose campus. Additionally, we aimed to make free condoms available on campus,” said Gannon.

DiGiovine showed support for some of VOX’s goals.

“It was about teaching people about how their body works,” said DiGiovine.

“VOX was created by students because they wanted to enhance the programming done by the college,” McDonald said.

Despite the year long existence of the group on campus, Gannon was happy with what was accomplished.

“Although it seems like VOX wasn't around long enough to accomplish much, I personally believe that the simple approval of VOX as a Student Association sponsored club was a tremendous achievement. There was a lot of opposition to the organization, I think in part because it is a nationwide college program that is sponsored by Planned Parenthood,” said Gannon.

Former advisor Murad currently teaches a Biology of AIDS class during the Fall 2007 semester and on the topic of sexual health she teaches prevention HIV transmission and a few other STDs when time is available. She expressed her views on condom availability.

“I do believe that students are adults and can and should make their own decisions about their life choices including sexuality-- this I believe is in line with the college policy to place the responsibility on the student rather than the college. However as the epidemic grows in the 13 to 25-year-old age group, I also feel that there is a responsibility on the part of the institution to recognize their role in the public health of their student body,” Murad said.

One way of providing sexual education on campus was the AIDS Awareness Day event held in Saint Joseph’s Auditorium on October 24 th. The event was set up a community service project for the Biology of AIDS class. It was sponsored by many campus groups including The Natural Science Association, Identity, The Office of Spiritual Life and The Community Service Office and the Albany NAMES project and offered free HIV testing and free condoms.

“I was there answering questions if any one had any. Also I created a flyer with valid information concerning Latino and general statistics,” said junior Vianny Tineo, one of Murad’s students.

While Tineo thinks that there should be condoms on campus and that there needs to be more sexual education on campus, she believes that views on sexuality may change in the future.

“As disease becomes more rampant and the school's alumni, those donating high amounts of money, become our class or a class closer to a more modern era, it will change,” said Tineo.

“I am not going to hold my breath but I would love to see policy change to protect RA’s and allow condoms in the dorms,” Murad said.

Ultimately, one of the easiest things a student can do now is to listen to the advice of DeGiovine.

“Be aware,” he said.