At Massaschusett's Stonehill College a senior student - Katie Freitas - was frustrated that her college did not make birth control available to students, so she collected lots of freebies and made them available in the dorms. But when administrators at the Catholic school learned about her efforts, they got rid of the condoms, citing the college's ban against distributing birth control on campus.
"We're a private Catholic college," Martin McGovern, Stonehill's spokesman. "We make no secret of our religious affiliation, and our belief system is fairly straightforward. We don't expect everyone on campus to agree with our beliefs, but we would ask people, and students in particular, to respect them."
McGovern said the college's policy follows church teachings, which oppose use of artificial contraception. Most Catholic colleges do not distribute birth control on campus.
"This is not a shocking revelation," that the college does not permit condom distribution, he said.
Freitas, who said she is not Catholic, said she decided to make condoms available because she was concerned about the consequences of students having unprotected sex.
"Abstinence can be part of sex-ed, and should be," she said. "But college students are going to have sex, and they should be encouraged to have safe sex. In certain moments, students aren't going to stop to run to CVS, so I think they should be available on campus."
The dispute at Stonehill echoes debates on access to birth control on other Catholic campuses in the region.
Students at Boston College recently passed a referendum urging the college to offer affordable testing for sexually transmitted infections and access to contraception.
I think this young woman should be applauded and that this ancient struggle needs to be relegated to the history books...ask Phil Harvey!
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