While most University of Wisconsin students know exactly what it feels like to receive grades on subjects like history, engineering and political science, few students expect to see their own university handed the grades. More unexpected, is to see the university graded in the subject of sex.
Trojan, a leading condom producer, gave out the final grades Sept. 19 for its Sexual Health Report Card, and with a grade point average of 2.7, UW ranked 21st out of 100 universities nationwide.
Bert Sperling of Sperling's Best Places judged schools in seven categories relating to sexual-health information and outreach.
"In our research, we put ourselves in the place of a student seeking information about sexual health," Sperling said in a release. "We found it difficult to find this type of information at a range of colleges throughout the country."
Scores ranged from a perfect 4.0 (Yale University) to an absolutely failing 0.0 (Brigham Young University). According to Sperling, the wide range of scores is problematic, and he points to some schools' policies of not addressing or simply ignoring the issue.
"There is an immense divide between those schools that offer comprehensive, fact-based sexual health resources to students and provide a forum for discussion of related topics, and those where, for a variety of reasons, information is difficult to come by," Sperling said.
UW received A's on the helpfulness of its website; condom service and availability; contraception advice and availability; and HIV and sexually transmitted infection testing.
Sex Out Loud consistently opens its doors to students, providing free condoms, advice and four separate programs, requiring groups that arrange the programs begin with the Safer Sex program before requesting any of the others. Director of University Health Services Kathleen Poi said UHS offers clinical services and works closely with Sex Out Loud to promote the sexual education of UW students.
"We integrate sexual health information and education into the care we provide at UHS," Poi said. "What we hope is that the students we treat and other students use the information that is provided to them."
However, UW scored poorly in sexual assault counseling and services; the presence of a sexual-health advice column; and general counseling services and outreach — receiving a C, F and D respectively.
Poi did not offer excuses for lower scores in these areas, and she acknowledged that there is room for improvement at UW.
"Compared to some campuses, I think this campus is relatively knowledgeable," Poi said. "But as long as you have students who get themselves into situations they'd rather not be in — like unintended pregnancies or sexually transmitted infections — you always know that we can do better here."
But there is only so much UW can do to ensure the safety of the students, Poi added, saying that at some point students are responsible for their own well-being.
"We know that we can do more, but we also recognize there is a point where it's not up to us anymore," Poi said. "I think the biggest thing is that students take advantage of the resources and information available on campus and use it for their benefit."
