DISSENTING OPINION: Don’t Incentivize Promiscuity

College is about making lifelong friendships, pursuing intellectual endeavors, and figuring out what to do with the rest of your life. For some people, college is about sex. But not for everyone.

We are disappointed that upon arriving at Harvard, freshmen are handed goodie bags that include condoms and dental dams, which sends the message that, now that you’re at college, you should be having sex. The recent bill passed by the Undergraduate Council (UC) offering support for the distribution of condoms in every freshman dorm only adds to the notion that at college, sex is just another extracurricular activity. Soon, when freshmen go down to the basement to do their laundry, they will be able to pick up a couple condoms along the way because hey, it’s college, baby; they’ll need them.

Despite the fact that condoms are already available in several parts of the Yard, in upperclass houses, and at University Health Services (UHS)—not to mention at CVS—proponents of this plan insist that it is necessary to supply condoms in freshman dorms for that “heat-of-the-moment” lay in the hay. We disagree with this view that sex, especially between 17- and 18-year-olds who barely know each other and may be having their first sexual experience, should be the result of a spontaneous, inebriated decision. The superfluous availability of condoms will only encourage this sort of behavior.

Furthermore, it is not such a bad thing that freshmen seeking to obtain condoms on the University’s dime are often forced to interact with a human being in UHS or Room 13 to get the goods. A person who is embarrassed to be observed obtaining condoms should think twice before doing the deed.

The fact that the UC is willing to support making condoms readily available to freshmen before any substantial progress has been made in reducing the costs of coursepacks and textbooks reflects misguided priorities. The UC should focus on more worthy issues instead of enabling lewd sexual escapades.

The claim that the presence of condoms in freshman dorms will actively reduce the prevalence of sexually transmitted diseases is a weak one. Students who are responsible enough to have safe sex have enough foresight to obtain condoms from UHS or another source before things get too hot and heavy. In a society where sex is already king, there is no need for the UC to further encourage the culture.

Lucy M. Caldwell ’09, a Crimson editorial editor, lives in Wigglesworth Hall. Loui Itoh ’07, a Crimson editorial editor, is a government and study of religion concentrator in Quincy House.