University junior Missy Columbo may not be a superhero, but she did get to wear a sparkly crown and red cape with condoms attached to it Friday.
Columbo was dressed up as the “Condom Queen” to offer Valentine-themed goodie packs with condoms and lubricants to students she passed on the streets.
“Happy Valentine’s Day from the Health Center,” she told students. “Enjoy.”
Columbo, a second-term peer health educator with the University Health Center’s Peer Health Education program, was dressed up as part of the health center’s Take it to the Streets program.
The program consists of peer health educators walking around campus handing out University Health Center information to students. Generally they hand out wellness packs with health center services information and disinfectant lotion, or reproductive packs with information on contraceptives and family planning services with a condom keychain.
According to Peer Health Education Coordinator Ramah Leith, the program was modeled after a similar one at Binghamton University in New York, but the health center modified it to incorporate campus events.
She thinks the program will improve awareness on campus.
“It’s not to just get health information out,” Leith said. “But to make people aware of the health center.”
Columbo said students seem receptive to the program and that it works best to hand people information while walking instead of standing around and approaching students.
“For the most part people are pretty interested, but you’ll get some people that are definitely not interested,” she said. “It gets a lot of information to people who don’t come by the health center.”
University sophomore Ursula Evans-Heritage was participating in the program for the first time Friday and found that the people seemed responsive, especially with someone wearing condoms on a cape.
She became a peer health educator last fall to raise awareness about certain issues.
“I thought it seemed like a really good way to get involved, and in high school I did peer sex education,” Evans-Heritage said.
Columbo joined for the leadership opportunity and said she enjoys walking around and meeting people.
“It’s one of my favorite things I’ve done on campus in the three years I’ve been here,” she said.
The peer health program is a two-term class with the health center that offers four credits per term. Second-term educators can pick a project to oversee. Evans-Heritage works on the Suicide Prevention Task Force and is the publicity coordinator for Take Back the Night, while Columbo works with the Take it to the Streets program.
Currently, the other peer educators rotate to work with Columbo to pass out information. Leith said that the hours of the program may be doubled next term to have more educators around campus passing out information. Also, they hope to get yellow jackets that say “Peer Health Educator” on the back to make them more visible to students.
“We’re not very recognizable,” Columbo said. “We have side backpacks and we just look like students.”
Leith added that students who want to get involved in peer education can pick up an application at the health center today.