Condoms to roll out in res. halls
The dispensers will be placed in five residence halls and Bingham Commons.
April 29, 2008
Condoms will be in six residence halls by fall semester, according to a pilot plan approved by the Sexual Health and Safety Products Task Force.
The condom dispensers, which will provide contraceptives and information regarding sexual health, will be placed in Gillett, Mark Twain, Center, Lathrop and Wolpers residence halls and Bingham Commons.
Student Health Center Director Susan Even said the dispensers will be accessible for the disabled and be placed in areas that will be environmentally favorable for the products they contain. The Sexual Health Advocate Peer Education program will be responsible for stocking them.
Even said the plan will operate as a pilot program and be evaluated independently for efficiency by use of student survey. She said the student surveys would help measure the impact the dispensers have on next semester’s residence hall population.
“The survey tool will be utilized at intervals in the fall after (the dispensers) have been in place for a period of time,” Even said.
The idea to provide condoms on campus was first proposed by the Phi Beta Sigma fraternity in 2006. After the idea gained attention among students and MU administrators, a task force composed of members from various student groups and the residence halls was created to explore the idea further.
In a Dec. 13 e-mail, Chancellor Brady Deaton wrote to Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs Cathy Scroggs that he would support a condom plan as long as five directives were completed before the launch of any such program.
Deaton wanted assurance that funding for the program would not come from the university; all dispensers would be tamperproof and be placed in areas that would provide privacy for their users; all dispensers would be requested by residence hall governments; the university would conduct an independent evaluation of the program’s effectiveness; and at least one or more student association groups would provide active support in the planning and implementation of the program upon its launch, according to the e-mail.
Scroggs said all five of Deaton’s directives have since been accounted for. She said the only thing that could affect the success of the program is the amount of funding that groups involved in the plan provide.
“That will determine how many dispensers are provided,” Scroggs said.
Although a number of student organizations will contribute financially toward the program, the Missouri Students Association will be responsible for the majority of its funding. MSA Vice President Chelsea Johnson said the association is pushing legislation through MSA Senate that will allow it to give $8,900 toward the installation of condom dispensers. Even said the six dispensers and the first stocking of products will cost approximately $13,800.
Despite the amount of funding MSA will provide, Johnson said she does not expect the association to be involved as much next year in the implementation of the program as the Residence Halls Association.
“We will sort of stay in the loop of everything, but I do not know how involved we will be since it mainly will be a residential life issue,” Johnson said. “I know RHA is going to take a big stand and a lot of initiative.”
Rollins Group Council Vice President Tim Franklin said his residence hall government voted to install a dispenser because of the message they send.
“The purchase of condom machines sends a message of safe sexual practices with a guarantee that the condoms will not be tampered with in a convenient location,” Franklin said.
Prior to the plan’s approval, a student survey was given to residents to get an understanding of how students use sexual health products. Even said the information received from the survey helped to support the implementation of the program that was developed.
“The information that was summarized from the surveys was consistent with the prior students’ feedback and the behaviors that had been described,” she said.
When the program does start, Scroggs said she believes outside groups will not protest it.
“This is more of an expansion of what we currently have, and it is not going to be quite as broad based I think as people were led to believe a year ago,” Scroggs said. “It is far more limited.”
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