Weigel has got you covered

You would never imagine that there is a room on campus filled with over 30,000 condoms, dental dams, lube, and other sexual health products.

This room actually exists in the lower level of Porter Hall at the Weigel Health Center's Health Promotion office.

"Students are not just students, they spend only about 5 percent of their time in class," said Tammy Kresge, assistant director of health promotions. "We're very realistic. If people are choosing to have sex, they need to be healthy about it."

Kresge and her staff continuously offer students free sexual health products in hopes of promoting healthy and safe sex lives on and off campus.

Every product in the room is completely free and available to students without question.

Along with three desks for interns in a bright, white room, a large amount of the space is set aside for the products.

A filing cabinet on the right side of the room with miscellaneous labels on the drawers houses thousands of condoms. The floor is stacked with brown and white boxes labeled in black Sharpie containing a multitude of lubricants, dental dams and even more condoms.

Throughout the room, there are baskets on every desk containing massive mounds of condoms. The sight resembles baskets of free mints or suckers that are sometimes found in offices.

A $130 health fee that is included in every student's semester bill funds all of the products, which are purchased through the New York State Health Department.

By offering a constant supply of sexual health products, the health center strives to provide students with resources for a healthy sex life and relationships.

Kim Jablonski, assistant director of mandated programs, said she devotes much of her time on campus to providing health services to students, most of which are free.

"There's usually always a basket of condoms (at the reception desk in Weigel Health Center)," Jablonski said. "So students can just walk in, grab them, turn away and walk out."

Because of the availability of condoms, Weigel Health Center hopes that students will feel comfortable to come a grab a few. There are no questions asked, no forms to fill out and privacy is ensured.

Graduate intern Jessica Darvick also said she believes that awareness and utilization of resources on campus is extremely important.

"A lot of individuals feel uncomfortable going into the store to buy condoms," Darvick said. "Having it free on campus, where they can just take it and walk away should make it easier for a safer sex campus."

The Weigel Health Center also conducts tabling every Tuesday and Thursday during Bengal Pause at 12:15 to 1:30 p.m. During tabling, the health center offers resources to students and also has free condoms available for students.

By doing events such as tabling, the health center staff members said they hope to increase their outreach to both on campus and commuter students.

The health center also offers a number of other resources for students. From speaking with one of the staff members, like Kresge, or attending one of the health center's demonstrations on how to correctly put on a condom, the health center strives to ensure student safety regarding sexual health. 

The staff at Weigel Health Center can be reached at 878-6727. They are available from 8:30 a.m. until 8 p.m. Monday through Thursday and from 8:30 a.m. until 5 p.m. on Friday.

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