A recent health study measuring the potency of sexual resources at colleges gave the University a failing grade, suggesting that student sexual health is not a priority on campus.
While some students agreed with the findings, University health educators criticized the study as unscientific and inaccurate. It has prompted officials to consider changes to sexual health information that the University offers online.
The Trojan Sexual Health Report Card graded 100 universities and colleges nationwide on seven subjects, such as the ease of finding information online, condom and contraception availability and sexual assault services.
“We set out to search for the colleges which did the best job in educating and providing their students with the resources to live a sexually healthy lifestyle,” said Bert Sperling, founder of Sperling’s Best Places, a Portland research firm that conducted the study along with condom manufacturer Trojan.
Researchers gave colleges a grade for each category and calculated a cumulative grade point average. The University ranked 77th, flunking with a 1.3 GPA.
By comparison, Oregon State University ranked 5th with a
3.4, trailing behind Yale and Stanford universities.
Sperling, an OSU alumnus, said he found that colleges that received poor remarks feel it’s best “to allow the student to find their own answers in their own private way.”
Yet University health educator Annie Dochnahl said the study misrepresented the University’s efforts because researchers relied on data from the Internet and phone calls to formulate the rankings.
“If researchers were here on campus, they would see all the University puts into healthy sex,” she said. “We are lacking in the virtual world but not the actual world.”
Dochnahl said a wealth of sexual health resources are available on campus, including the student-run Sexual Wellness Advocacy Team, Health Resource Center, LGBTQ support group and the ASUO Women’s Center and Men’s Center.
Health officials did say the University Health Center Web site needs help.
“This generation of students increasingly goes to Web sites to get information, so we need to make it available,” said University Health Education Director Paula Staight
Although free condoms are abundant on campus, the University health Web site doesn’t mention several spots in the EMU, the Health Center and the residence halls where students can grab rubbers.
University senior Maiko Nakai said she knows the health center has free condoms, although she has never taken them.
“It’s not that we are shoving the condoms into their hands, but they are here,” Dochnahl said.
Sperling also gave the University an F for condom availability, despite the 4,000 “wellness packets” that SWAT distributed to new freshmen. The plastic bags included condoms with “got consent?” stickers, lubricant, tips on what to do if sexually assaulted and Hershey’s Kisses.
SWAT advisor Abigail Leeder said the safe-sex kits given to freshmen leave the new students prepared.
Leeder also oversees SWAT’s annual skit for freshmen. The group’s 15 members explore the theme that “consent is sexy” while acting out intimate and often difficult situations that
some students might find themselves experiencing.
“Thousands of freshmen watch SWAT’s skit before they even take their first class,” Leeder said. “It really hit some students emotionally this year.”
SWAT also visits classrooms, residence halls and Greek chapter houses throughout the year to educate students.
And the University didn’t just greet freshmen with condoms this fall. Peer health educators hand out condoms daily as part of the group’s “Taking it to the Streets” campaign.
“Students love the condom key chains,” Staight said, noting that the Health Center also provides free condoms.
The student educators also keep a basket of rubbers at
the Health Resource Center in the EMU.
Peer health educator Katherine Davis said although several students pick up condoms each day, she feels many more could take advantage of the group’s services.
University junior Anthony Coslett said he had no idea the University provided free condoms for students and that advertisements around campus would help spread the word.
Peer health educator Sara Wee said she wasn’t surprised by the University’s low ranking in the survey because she sees a lack of open dialogue about sex on campus.
“Our goal is to get people talking … to take the intellectual environment prevalent at the U of O and bring it to health,” Wee said. “The location of Eugene has a forum for discussion, but the awareness isn’t there. We do have a great potential.”
The single A that the researchers granted the University for contraception reflects Oregon’s Family Planning Expansion Project, a service that provides some female students with
free contraception and STD screening.
However, the University received a D for sexual assault services. Staight said she couldn’t believe the score, considering “our university was one of the first in the state to train a sexual assault nurse examiner.” Information for victimized students is
also available on the Health Center Web site, she said.
The University’s nurse has the ability to gather forensic evidence after unwarranted sexual intercourse, and she provides students with confidential support.
Health officials said they do appreciate that the study generated valuable discussion.
“It brings attention to the fact that academics are not only what college is about,” Leeder said.
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