Boston College and the American Civil Liberities union are set to clash in court over condoms, according to USA Today.
Boston College recently shut down a program, run by students, which offered condoms to students in a wider effort to promote safe sex on campus. The program, named “Safe Sites”, provided other sexual items to students including lubricants. The ACLU is looking to defend the students as the situation escalates.
According to college the efforts to promote safe sex are in violation of the "responsibility to protect the values and traditions of Boston College as a Jesuit, Catholic institution."
The message was a part of a larger letter sent to “Safe Sites”, promising swift action if the students continued the program. It was signed by Paul Chebator, dean of students, and George Avery, director of residence life.
Jack Dunn, Boston College spokesman, went on WBZ NewsRadio 1030 Wednesday to discuss the issue.
“The students have repeatedly ignored warnings," he said. "The dean sent the letter to the students saying their actions were incongruent with the Jesuit Catholic values of Boston College and asked them to cease in this activity."
Sarah Wunsch, an attorney for ACLU said the student’s rights were disregarded.
"Jack Dunn needs to think about the state's civil rights act and its applicability to private parties," she said on WBZ.”They should not be threatening students with disciplinary action."
Dunn replied to the comments, saying ACLU had no business in the situation. "I don't think the ACLU has standing in this matter," he retorted. "As a private institution we reserve the right to set our policies and to hold our students accountable to those policies."
According to Boston.com, Safe Sites are funded by the Boston College Students for Sexual Health. BCSSH is a group that educates college students about safe sex. It is not recognized by BC.
"As a Jesuit, Catholic university, there are certain Catholic commitments that Boston College is called to uphold. We ask our students to respect these commitments, particularly as they pertain to Catholic social teaching on the sanctity of life," Dunn said in a statement. "We recognize that, as a reflection of society at large, many students do not agree with the Church's position on these issues. However, we ask those who do not agree to be respectful of our position, and circumspect in their private affairs.”
Lizzie Jekanowski is the chairperson of BCSSH. She believes Safe Sites are necessary for college students to make the safes choices. She also believed that BCSSH had an understanding with BC. The letter disappointed her.
"We've had a very open relationship and it's been very positive," she said. "This letter was very warmongering and threatening."
According to Boston.com, Jekanowski said the college knew of the sites for a while and chose not to do anything. She would have liked the college to reach out to her organization first before sending the letter to the students.
