I believe that medical attention should be freely available to students. Living on campus, as most of Lafayette students do, is a breeding ground for viruses to spread, therefore, we should receive adequate health care. This goes for sexual health too. Although not all students participate in the hookup culture on campus, many do, and therefore need to use the free STD clinic that Bailey’s Health Centre used to offer every other week on Thursday from 10am-2pm. The clinic was usually busy, and I have heard many complain that there were not enough time slots avaliable. Instead, Bailey’s decided to stop providing this service altogether, with the justification that not enough students kept their appointments, despite the amount of no shows being similar to that of the regular Bailey’s appointments. As stated by Dr. at Baileys in the school newspaper, STD’s are usually very treatable, especially when caught early enough a course of medication can be adequate in treating them. However, when untreated they can cause the risk of worsening effects and potentially spreading.
Although the school has stated that there is still a free clinic at St. Luke’s hospital, I believe this inadequate, especially with the expansion of the school. In addition to this, St. Luke’s hospital is not in walking distance and will take much more time and money for travel from the student. Lafayette College raised over $400 million for their expansion plans, despite this spike in donations, they cut the free STD tests. I hope that the school acknowledges the vitality of promoting sexual health on campus and retracks their decision.
As a school with no religious affiliation, and obligations to sex on campus, there should be more support from the college to promote safe and healthy sex.