Students at the catholic Georgetown University chained themselves to a statue of the college’s founder with their mouths taped shut, while others chanted, "we want condoms" and "Georgetown—change—it’s not too late," in a protest against the school’s opposition to contraception.
Several students displayed a banner directed towards university president John J. DeGioia, which said, “take the tape off our mouths and the chains off our bodies." The president of Georgetown’s unofficial pro-choice group shouted, “we are unofficial because Georgetown refuses to take care of the sexual health of its students,” into a megaphone at school's trademark front gates last week.
In keeping with catholic tradition, Georgetown doesn’t believe in supporting and distributing contraception that prevents the creation of life.
"As a Catholic and Jesuit university, our policies must reflect our identity and our values," said Vice President for Student Affairs Todd A. Olson in a letter to the pro-choice group last week.
Private catholic colleges and universities have often dealt with contentious debate about offering contraceptives to the student body. Earlier last year, a student at Boston-area Stonehill College collected free condoms from local family-planning clinics and distributed them in boxes around dormitories. Stonehill’s administration caught wind of the activity, and went around dormitories confiscating the contraceptives.
In addition to distributing 4,500 free condoms last semester, Georgetown students are also organizing a large student group to try and sway the administration to change its policy.
Erica Slates, vice president of H*yas for Choice, says that Georgetown students have sex on a routine basis and do not want to worry about pregnancy or STD’s. H*yas for Choice currently has over 100 members.
The group has been writing letters to administrators over the past couple months over the need for free protection, and making HPV vaccines more affordable to students.
Georgetown is in Washington D.C., where officials have declared a city-wide HIV/AIDS epidemic—a recent report found more than 3 percent of adults and teens living with the deadly disease.
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