There are many resources on campus regarding sexual health, but Elon University students aren't aware of these resources because the administration isn't disseminating these tools, students said.
Sophomore Tori Walker said she doesn't think the university is doing enough to promote safe sex, sexual health and overall good decision making. Walker said these topics are glossed over at the beginning of the year and there's no follow-up.
"Elon's probably not doing a good job," she said. "There's not much talk about it after orientation."
Leigh-Anne Royster, director of Student Development, agreed there needs to be better promotion of healthy choices about sexual health for students and said that's one of her priorities this year.
[quote]"There are absolutely areas that need improvement in terms of promoting healthier sexual choices for students at Elon," she said. "I am taking some time to assess the needs of students in my new role as director of Student Development and hope to have some exciting changes in the coming year."[/quote]
The R.N. Ellington Health Center buys about 1,000 condoms annually, which is less than 5 percent of its operational budget on condoms, according to Jana Lynn Patterson, assistant vice president for Student Life. These condoms are distributed to students at no cost.
Elon students need to be more informed about their choices regardless of whether they're sexually active. One way students can be informed is through SPARKS programming and events, said Kelly Little, SPARKS team leader. The goal of the organization, she said, is to provide students resources Elon isn't giving because not talking about sexual health doesn't help either.
Royster said SPARKS peer educators created a new program promoting sexual health similar to the existing alcohol awareness and safety presentations. The program will be added to the organization's series in Winter Term. The office of Student Development is also creating similar programs that will be available for students next spring and fall semesters, she said.
Resources and tools on campus
Resources for students include one-on-one conversations about sexuality and sexual relations with a SPARKS peer educator or with Elizabeth Nelson, coordinator of violence prevention. Peer educators can be found in Moseley Center throughout the semester offering students condoms and promoting sexual health awareness. Little said these condoms, paid for by SPARKS' budget, are in response to what Elon students need and want. The organization does not have a set amount of its budget allocated to condoms.
Junior Keegan Johnson said he knew the Health Center offers students condoms but wasn't aware of other places on campus where students have access to them. He also said he has seen students in Moseley offering condoms but didn't know they were representing SPARKS.
Students' awareness of resources
Sophomore Colleen O'Connell agreed with Little in that students should be aware of the resources offered, but she said it's up to them to seek out existing resources.
"I think the resources are here and (students) have the ability to be informed," she said. "Whether they are informed is their problem. There are people who are stupid and there are people who are informed and those who aren't informed will have results from that."
Some students go to the SPARKS office in Harden and take condoms there after consulting a peer educator, who are available to students and answer any questions students have, Little said. But some students may be afraid to take condoms in Moseley because of what other students may think. Sex is still a taboo topic, according to Johnson.
"It's a controversial issue to people so people are stand-offish to people and are shy if they see others talking about sex," he said. "They may not take condoms because of that."
Raising awareness
Nelson said she believes there isn't a right or wrong way to inform students about sexual health because it's a broad topic and people are at different stages of being comfortable with their sexuality. A way to approach sexual education as an institution is to understand where people are in terms of their personal education and help them make safe and healthy decisions, she said.
But O'Connell said although Elon's making an effort to inform students, it's not the institution's job to implement education programs about sexual health. Students should be responsible for their own decisions and shouldn't rely on the school to feed them information, O'Connell said.
On the other hand, Johnson said getting out information is difficult and Elon is trying to let students know about resources.
"It's hard to want to be informed on topics like this," he said. "A lot of people already know about this. It's more of a voluntary thing. But if Elon wants to create mandatory sessions or workshops, then that's a different thing."
Talking about sex and sexual health, relationships and everything in between can be uncomfortable for some students, but Little and Nelson recommend students have those conversations with their partners and friends. Nelson's office is the only other place besides the Counseling Center that offers confidentiality to students, and she said she's found that it's beneficial for students to know that.