MU drops in Trojan sexual health resource rankings
MU's sexual health resources ranked at No. 61 among other Division I colleges.
Published Sept. 21, 2007
MU was ranked No. 61 among other Division I colleges and universities for its sexual health resources in a report sponsored by the Trojan condom manufacturing company.
The rank is a decrease from last year's rank, when MU was No. 42.
The 2007 Sexual Health Report Card is based on polls of 139 schools' student health centers and a review of the center's Web site.
Sperling's BestPlaces research firm conducted the survey.
Heather Eastman-Mueller, Sexual Health Advocate Peer Education program curriculum coordinator, said the ranking is subjective and shouldn't be valued much.
"I think we have quite a stellar program here, and we work very diligently," she said. "Our indicators of success might be different from what Trojan considers to be indicators of success. It's kind of based upon who you talk to."
Eastman-Mueller said the ranking is subjective based upon the location of the college or university.
"You can't look at different universities in different cultures and environments the same," she said. "We have totally different cultures and totally different societies. What's acceptable in California might not be acceptable over here."
Trojan researchers polled student health centers in 11 different categories that apply to sexual health.
After evaluating the programs, the researchers assigned a cumulative grade-point average for the school and then ranked universities according to this number. MU's GPA was 2.91.
Although Eastman-Mueller said she thinks MU has strong sexual health programs, she said that it could still be improved.
"We've got a long way to go, baby," she said.
Eastman-Mueller said one of SHAPE's main goals at MU is to dispel the negative stigma around sexual health and have more openness in discussing sexual health issues.
"Just being able to talk about it within our environment and our society (is a goal)," she said. "We're very quick to judge and very quick to have a negative stigma with sexual health issues."
SHAPE Peer Educator Rachel Epstein said one of the main issues setting back sexual health groups at MU is the lack of openness regarding sexual health.
"Everything we do in terms of programs and speakers we really have to watch," she said. "We really have to watch every single step of our way to make sure not to step on people's toes. We should have to just focus on our programs and not worry about offending MU."
