Sexual health report ranks USU at the bottom
USU’s sexual health was ranked 103 out of 140 colleges and universities, with 140 being the worst, according to the Trojan Sexual Health Report Card released in November.
The eight-year study, sponsored by Trojan Brand Condoms, was performed by independent researcher Bert Sperlings, president of Sperling’s Best Places.
“Basically what we’re measuring are the resources and the services and the information to be sexually healthy and aware,” Sperlings said.
He said the study is a great way for universities to see how they measure up to other schools.
“Some universities with low rankings view the report card results as a red flag to improve their sexual health at their school,” Sperlings said. “They then take steps to improve their school’s sexual health.”
He said researchers in the study don’t visit campuses and measure the sexual health of students.
Christine Rouselle, web editor for Townhall.com, said she disagrees with the way Trojan performs the study and distributes the information, claiming they don’t acquire important information which actually deals with sexual health. Universities are critiqued on health centers’ hours of operations, quality of sexual health information on the web, contraceptive availability, condom availability, outreach programs, overall website usability and quality.
“Out of the 140 schools ranked on the list, the first school affiliated with a religion, Georgetown, appears at 96th,” Rouselle said. “Three schools in the bottom 10 are affiliated with the Roman Catholic Church and the lowest-ranked school, which is Brigham Young University, is affiliated with Mormons.”
Rouselle said she thinks the study is more of a marketing scheme for Trojan to sell its product. In order to view a score, a virtual Trojan e-toolkit must be purchased.
“I don’t have a lot of respect for that survey,” said James Davis, executive director for USU’s Student Health and Wellness Center. “It is sponsored by Trojan, and it has a bend toward free sexuality, and so Utah State has traditionally ranked low on the study.”
Davis said the SHWC understands the needs of Aggies better than Trojan does. According to Davis, the SHWC performs a study every other year to analyze students’ sexual health needs to find out who is having sex and sexually transmitted infections they’re facing. Through the biannual study, they also evaluate students’ attitudes and standards regarding sex.
“Because of the nature of our clientele, we are somewhat strict about sexual health,” Davis said. “We don’t hang condoms from the trees around the health center. We don’t throw condoms at the basketball games because of our student body and their beliefs. We are a sturdy and strong resource, but we don’t advertise or politicize or publicise sexuality.”
Though USU ranks low on the study, Davis said the SHWC provides students with plenty of information.
“We actually do area prevention where we go out and do outreach,” Davis said. “I myself have gone out to dorms and talk about sex and answer any questions out there. We also provide one-on-one information, and we take those questions very seriously. I think we do a much better job in terms of sexual education than other institutions in the study.”