If you’re the eleventh student to go to the health office for condoms today, you’re probably out of luck.On Sept. 20, College Aids Prevention (CAP) proposed the installment of 12 on-campus condom dispensers to Community Senate because of the limited contraceptive options for residential students.
“We are proposing to install condom dispensers in the men’s and women’s bathrooms on the first floors of the dorms and in the laundry rooms of the apartments,” said senior Erin Burns, member of CAP.
“Guilford has had a lot of problems with securing a condom source,” Burns explained.
Part of the reason why condoms are difficult to come by on campus is because of a lack of funding. The health center does not have a budget for condoms, which allots them to only give a certain amount everyday.
Guilford used to receive condoms from the non-profit agency Triad Health Project. Recently, the organization has stopped providing condoms because it could no longer afford to supply to a private college.
“One benefit of condom dispensers is that they would pay for themselves,” Burns said. “The money placed into the machines would be used to purchase more condoms.”
“Condom dispensers are a good, consistent source,” Burns added. “They ensure that condoms are both affordable and available to students.”
Even without condom dispensers, students currently have some means of obtaining condoms on campus.
“We put out 8-10 (condoms) per day in the container (in the health office),” said Helen Rice, director of Student Health, in an e-mail. “If we put out more than that, they take them all by the handfuls. (But) if anyone asks we always give them one.”
However, in the likelihood that more than 10 Guilford students engage in sex everyday, where does this lead the unlucky 11th student to look for condoms?
“We give most of the condoms to Sandy Bowles, who passes them out to RAs to give out,” Rice said.
The sexual awareness-themed Cobb House recently conducted a Guilford student sexual health and behavior survey that polled 146 traditional students. Of the participants, 65 were female, 57 were male and 24 did not specify their gender.
The survey showed that 42 percent of women and 39 percent of men reported feeling uncomfortable approaching their RAs for condoms.
Of the sexually active women who took the survey, 41 percent of them said that they would have sex without a condom if one was not immediately available.
“It’s important that college kids have access to condoms in order to increase the chances of safe sex,” said junior Katherine Rossini, house manager of Cobb. “However, we simply don’t have enough resources to facilitate this.”
Placing condom dispensers in residential halls would give students a 24-hour source of condoms. The dispensers would also allow students to obtain condoms anonymously, therefore eliminating the embarrassment of asking another person.
Of all the students Cobb House polled in its survey, 76 percent of students said that they would use condom dispensers if they were installed on campus.
Condom dispensers seem like a viable option for a relatively cheap, secure source for contraceptives. However, the proposal is still in the very early stages.
“If dispensers are installed, it won’t be until a few months down the road,” Burns said. “We still need to get the approval of the administration, which will be much harder than the approval of the senate.”
The administration may disapprove of the installment of condom dispensers because of the school’s image. At the senate meeting, some senate members raised questions as to how the parents of prospective students would react if they saw or knew of condom dispensers on campus.
Many of the students at the meeting agreed that the appearance of the school should be secondary when regarding the health and wellbeing of students.
“It’s the responsibility of the school to give students the resources to engage in safe and healthy sex,” Rossini said.