A recent survey by Trojan Condoms, the Trojan Sexual Health Report Card, ranked Georgetown 80th out of 100 universities surveyed concerning sexual health on campus. While this survey must be taken with a grain of salt, the state of sexual health on campus should be an important consideration for our community.
It is clearly a conflict of interest for a company that makes its profits through condom sales to complete a survey saying Georgetown lags far behind other universities in supporting safe sex and distributing condoms; there is obvious potential for bias. Indeed, schools that fail to provide condoms seem to suffer disproportionately in the rankings.
Nonetheless, the survey should remind our community that sexual health and sexual health awareness on campus can always be improved.
It is true, for instance, that the university does very little to promote condom distribution and usage. Condoms can only be distributed in Red Square, but this is hardly surprising in light of Georgetown’s Jesuit heritage. The university should, however, reconsider this policy in light of the ever-increasing risks inherent to unprotected sex.
Student-run groups such as Georgetown University Men Advocating Relationship Responsibility promote awareness of on-campus sexual assaults, and the university offers peer-outreach programs for students who are pregnant or have suffered sexual assaults. HIV and STI testing, along with free pregnancy tests, are available at the Student Health Center. These groups and programs need to adapt continually to students’ ever-changing needs, and the university’s full support and adequate funding are necessary for that to happen successfully.
While we should not place too much weight on Trojan’s assessments, sexual health should remain an important concern for all Hoyas and the university administration. Georgetown’s Jesuit heritage should not be a barrier to the promotion of sexual awareness and safety.
Even if the university chooses not to hand out condoms to students, it can still strive to provide greater avenues toward sexual education. Yale has a week-long discussion session regarding sex, and there is no reason why Georgetown cannot have the same.