Georgetown ranked 80 in a pool of 100 universities across the country in a “Sexual Health Report Card” compiled by Trojan Brand Condoms and released on Sept. 19.
“The goal was to get a window into a range of universities,” Bert Sterling, a Trojan representative said.
He said the survey was a way to compare how different colleges approach the topic of sexual health.
“College is an important transition stage in (students’) lives, getting out on their own for the first time, and as a result they are going to have questions about sexual health, and we want to provide some answers,” Sterling said.
photo by Simone Popperl
There were seven main categories that Trojan used to rank universities: web site, condom availability, contraception, HIV/STI testing, sexual assault services, advice column/Q&A and lectures/outreach programs.
Georgetown scored poorly in most sections, getting C’s for condom availability, contraception, and HIV/STI testing, D’s for web site and sexual assault services, and F’s for the final two criteria.
Carol Day, Director of Health Education Services, said that the survey did not accurately reflect the quality of services that Georgetown offers.
Day particularly took issue with the D for sexual assault services.
“That’s appalling—we have wonderful sexual assault services,” she said.
Day stressed that it was Georgetown’s goal to be consistent with the teachings of the Catholic Church while still helping students.
“We are here for students in ways that are more meaningful,” she said, citing conversation, advice and referrals as some of the services the university offers.
“We refer people who are interested in more thorough reproductive services to a place off campus without those restrictions,” she said.
H*yas for Choice member Amelia Post (SFS ‘07) said she did not take issue with the University’s Catholic position but thought it could do more to promote awareness of sexual health.
“We respect Georgetown’s Jesuit heritage and we know that it prevents them from distributing condoms, but part of Georgetown’s philosophy is educating the whole person,” Post said.
“Studies show that about 80 percent of college students are sexually active, and if students are sexually active, we want them to be safe.”
