Student group challenges Fordham University condom, free speech policies

A group at Fordham University is challenging school policy, one condom at a time.

The group, SAGES (Students for Sex & Gender Equality and Safety), takes issue with Fordham for choosing not to provide students with condoms, birth control and other forms of contraception. Fordham, a Jesuit, Catholic university in New York City, also bars students from distributing contraceptive materials.

Members of SAGES have been conducting “condom drops” at school dances and other events.

The group has four main goals in challenging Fordham policy: free and confidential access to birth control and STD testing on campus; to designate a part of campus as a free speech zone in which students can demonstrate on any issue of their choosing without permission from the University; free condoms to be available in community spaces at Fordham that fall outside of that theoretical free speech zone; and resources for pregnant women and child care for Fordham community members.

Rachel Field, a senior at Fordham and an organizer with SAGES, sees the current Fordham policies as “an affront to human rights” and vows that the group will not stop until policies change.

“Student health and safety is non-negotiable,” Field says. “The desire to go to an institution of learning should not mean that you have to sacrifice your health to do so. The UN has stated that birth control is a human right… why are we being denied human rights at Fordham?”

Fordham students are permitted to possess condoms and contraceptives, but not to distribute them. Field says this is not enough.

“We understand that the policies are that we can have things like condoms, or we can have birth control in this abstract sense in our rooms or something,” Field says. “The point is we need access on campus from the University itself. It’s not simple (being a student). You’re going to uproot your life and… you don’t know doctors around here. And, in fact, the (University) Health Center will not provide a list of even gynecologists in the area to help students.”

SAGES is distributing condoms and sexual safety information at Fordham University events. (Photo courtesy of SAGES.)

Additionally, Fordham student Blanche Hedrick finds the University’s prohibition on distribution to be a slippery slope.

“I think that a policy that prohibits distribution can get kind of hazy,” Hedrick says. “If they start cracking down on the Fordham SAGES are they going to start punishing students who give a friend a condom? Where is the line going to be drawn and what exactly counts as distribution?”

Fordham’s website states that, “As an institution in the Catholic, Jesuit tradition, Fordham University follows Church teachings on reproductive issues. Distribution of contraceptives, contraceptive devices and/or birth control, in any form, is prohibited on Fordham University property and at University-sponsored events.”

Christopher Rodgers, Assistant Vice President and Dean of Students at Rose Hill at Fordham says in an emailed statement that “Like any other private University, Fordham has certain values it holds dear, including the right — as a University in the Jesuit Catholic tradition — to act on those values by following Church teaching on contraception. The University respects the personal decisions that individuals may make in this area and in no way prohibits the possession or use of birth control, but it should not be expected to contradict these values by purchasing birth control for students or allowing distribution on its property. We believe this balances the rights of our University and that of individuals quite reasonably, but are always open to discussion on these issues of conscience for our community.”

Not all Catholic universities operate under these restrictions. Abigail Grace, a junior at Georgetown University — which is also a Jesuit, Catholic institution — is the president of H*yas for Choice, an unofficial student group that distributes condoms — among other activities — and is allowed by the administration to distribute, due to its non-affiliated status with the University.

“Ultimately, I think that as long as SAGES continues to engage in targeted and meaningful direct action, they will be successful,” Grace said via e-mail. “I think that H*yas for Choice’s case should make it very clear to Fordham administrators that it is possible to have an un-recognized, un-affiliated group distributing contraception on a Catholic campus.”

Courtney Code, a senior at Fordham and a retreat leader for Campus Ministry, says she finds Fordham’s policies on contraception to be in opposition to the school’s Jesuit standards.

“I think that Fordham’s contraceptive policies  — while perhaps aimed at upholding Catholic values — in fact undermine the Jesuit standard of cura personalis (care for the whole person),” Code said. “The inability to acquire any kind of birth control from the Health Center compromises students’ physical, sexual health and the imposition of Catholic expectations of sexual behavior on a largely non-Catholic student population compromises psychological health by coloring sexual encounters and experiences as shameful.”

Fordham student Kelsey Christie says that she feels the University’s policies on contraception cater only to Catholic students, which she finds problematic as many Fordham students are non-Catholic.

“I can understand why they (Fordham) make the policies because it is part of their tradition and identity,” Christie says. “But I also think that since Fordham does not require its students to be Catholic and submit to those beliefs, I do not feel it is fair to have such a policy that is clearly catering to only one type of belief, especially when it concerns a person’s health.”

Fordham senior Will Speros thinks the issue is overall student health.

“When I underwent STD testing at our (University) Health Center, my nurse practitioner told me she was obligated to talk to me about abstinence,” says. “At no point did she ever talk to me about making sure I practice safe sex/have access to contraceptives. I would never expect a Jesuit university to provide me with condoms, but talking with students about safe sex and being healthy just makes logical sense.”

However, not all Fordham students are supportive of SAGES’ goals.

“I disagree with SAGES on their pro-contraception positions, and as a Catholic I find some of their tactics offensive,” Fordham senior David Birkdale says. “I don’t think distributing condoms in school bathrooms will lead to more constructive dialogue.”

Assistant Vice President for Campus Ministry Rev. Philip Florio, S.J., says that he hopes SAGES will join Campus Ministry in an open dialogue.

“I would like to have a conversation with them to elucidate how their defiance could be seen as disrespectful to people who hold this Catholic moral teaching dear to their hearts,” Florio says.

SAGES’ grievances go beyond just contraceptive access and into policies on free speech.

“Fordham is notoriously repressive in free speech,” Field says. “Most universities have at least a zone in which students can speak freely and hand out flyers. I think it helps students engage in greater dialogue to have free speech zones where we can actually talk about what we think (and) what we feel. It gives space for students to grow and breathe.”

Fordham currently has no free speech zone, and many students find the University’s policies and attitude on the issue to be suppressive.

“I think Fordham’s policy on free speech restricts debate on campus and increases outsiders’ view of Fordham as a very conservative university,” Fordham senior James Polke says. “I think this harms the University and so I would support changes to the policy that widen the free speech rights of students on campus… Having more debate on campus can only help the school.”

Hedrick echoed these concerns.

“From what I’ve seen in the past couple of years is that administration seems to shut down any form of student free speech,” Hedrick says. “Every issue that has been started because of student outcry… is quickly shut down, ignored and swept under the rug. There never seems to be an open discussion between students and faculty and staff and it can be very frustrating and easy to feel like we’re being ignored.”

While SAGES’ public efforts have largely been confined to condom distribution at University events — placing condoms in coat pockets, leaving them in bathrooms and passing them out on the dance floor — Field says that the group plans on launching a broader campaign in the next month.

Rodgers invites SAGES to undertake dialogue with the University.

“As a part of my job, I actively seek out those who disagree and think it’s critically important to listen to views that perhaps differ from those of student life or the University. I hope this group changes it mind and decides that conversation on these issues could be as positive as I have always found it to be. Who knows — there may be ways it and its members can find common cause with us as we work on some of these same concerns,” he writes in an email.