March 4, 2015 (CardinalNewmanSociety.org) — An unofficial student organization at Fordham University in New York City, which has been petitioning the administration to forfeit its Catholic identity by allowing student access to contraceptives on campus, among other demands, has plans to launch a “sexual health network” for students, according to The Fordham Ram.
“The-Just-a-Friend-Network” will reportedly “be a loose collection of students, friends and peers who desire to offer safe sex materials, such as contraceptive[s], to their friends.”
Students for Sex and Gender Equality and Safety (SAGES) first began protesting Fordham’s policy prohibiting the distribution of contraceptives on campus last September. Since then, they have submitted a petition to the University, met several times with University administration, and made repeated demands for campus access to birth control.
In December, The Cardinal Newman Society reported that the Fordham administration was seeking “room for compromise” with the organization, though it was not specified how the University would accomplish this without endangering its Catholic identity. Still, the University reportedly said “we are going to uphold Catholic morals and traditions.”
“We’ve come to the conclusion that the administration is not going to budge whatsoever on these initiatives, so we are going to have to create them ourselves,” a SAGES representative told the Ram.
“Basically, nothing has come of these meeting[s]. Not a single reform, not a single change.”
The representative also informed the Ram that SAGES had made significant progress in “building connections around the city over the past few months to help orchestrate this new network.”
Last semester, SAGES connected with several abortion advocacy groups, marching in a rally with representatives from both Planned Parenthood and NARAL Pro-Choice New York to demand that Fordham change its contraception policy. The rally was organized by Women Organized to Resist and Defend (WORD), a feminist group that advocates for birth control and legal abortion on demand.
The Cardinal Newman Society contacted the dean’s office to inquire about the University’s response. The office indicated that it had no knowledge of the sexual health network and no present plans to respond to SAGES.
Reprinted with permission from The Cardinal Newman Society.