At some schools, condoms sit in baskets like Easter eggs, free for the taking.
But not at Bradley.
Not yet, at least.
Student Senate voted Monday to pass a resolution that gives Wellness Programs the initial authority to distribute free condoms on campus.
Though the resolution won’t place condom baskets across campus, it is a step in the right direction, students said.
“It’s about time,” said one student, who asked her name not be revealed. “Every other school I’ve been to hands them out like candy. It’s never made sense to me why Bradley doesn’t.”
Another student, who also asked his name not be revealed, said it’s an issue of public health, one the university has ignored for too long.
“If it’s good for students, which it is, the university should do it,” he said. “Hand sanitizer can’t be cheap, but it makes sense for the school to buy it. It’s the same thing with condoms.”
The resolution passed Monday varies significantly from the initial one that was written before Fall Break.
The most substantial change was to the way condoms will be distributed.
Basically, instead of describing the actual distribution policy, Senate gave Wellness Programs free oversight as to how the condoms should be distributed.
In the original resolution, students would have had to attend a Help Empower and Teach seminar, given in EHS 120 classes, register and go to a HEAT office hour with their ID cards to get a pack of 15 condoms.
Now, Withers said, the process will be a little looser, though exact details are still in the works with Alan Galsky, vice president for Student Affairs.
Students won’t have to give a name or present an ID card under the new plan, but they will have to prove in some way they attended a HEAT presentation, possibly with a card that will be given out at those presentations.
HEAT will also likely offer more of those presentations during the school year. That presentation is different than the one given in each residence hall at the start of the year.
Withers said the possibility of having baskets of condoms, or something similar, spread across campus was never considered when working on this resolution.
“That’s something available at Planned Parenthood,” she said.
Withers said because Bradley is a school, education needed to play a large part in the condom policy, and that’s why the HEAT presentations and proof of attendance to one of those presentations is mandatory.
The majority of the condoms will be donated through programs such as the Great American Condom Project or organizations such as Planned Parenthood.
Should donated condoms run out, the school could purchase the contraceptive from Trojan for 5 cents a piece. That means the university could purchase 10,000 for $500, and that money would come out of the Wellness Programs’ budget.
