Webinar: Reproductive Rights in Higher Education: University Health Clinic Scorecards
April 24, 2024 @ 2:00 pm - 3:00 pm EDT
FreeCollege is a time for discovery – a time to learn more about yourself and others. It is when youth move into adulthood. This transition should be done in an educated, sex-positive, healthy way. Colleges and universities have an obligation to teach students about reproductive health, especially for those that may have never had the opportunity in their K-12 school.
This presentation ties together reproductive resource accessibility and environmental sustainability by reasserting that reproductive rights are climate rights. In a growing world, we need to provide contraceptive and reproductive health services for all along with comprehensive sex education. Our presentation discusses the current efforts being made by 20 campuses and our research ranks them in a scorecard on everything from presence of an on-site campus health clinic to free condoms from a resident advisor to availability of abortion services. Often the universities who rank highest on reproductive services also have robust climate and sustainability programs too.
For the presentation, I have reached out to doctors Robin Mills and Nancy Wang to see if they would be interested in commenting on reproductive health resources on campuses. In our research, University of California Berkeley was ranked the highest as far as availability of resources–thus I feel it’s important to talk to one of their Health Educators–Robin Mills–about what can be done to further comprehensiveness of sexual education and student care on campuses. These health professionals are an incredibly valuable resource when we’re looking to enact definite change on campuses. As someone who has also done research on environmental issues on campus, I plan to take their information and tie that in to how improvements of reproductive resources can benefit sustainability–and how we can perhaps use university as a sort of microcosm for real-world applications.
Presenters
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Sydney Cole, Intern, Center for Biological Diversity Sydney Cole is an intern for the Center for Biological Diversity. She works on gender empowerment campaigns and their relationship to the climate and extinction crises. She is currently a student at Florida State University majoring in English and Sociology. |
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Robin Mills, Health Educator, University of California Berkeley Robin Mills joined UHS as a Health Educator in 2008. She received her BA in Psychology from Mills College (2001) and her MA in Human Sexuality Studies from San Francisco State University (2007). Robin sees clients for sexuality/sexual health issues including relationships and communication, sexual health/birth control education, and sexuality concerns and issues. |
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Malia Becker, Associate Organizer, Center for Biological Diversity Malia Becker leads creative outreach campaigns at the Center for Biological Diversity addressing the intersection of endless growth, reproductive health, inequitable consumption, and the wildlife extinction crisis. She manages two campaigns focused on alternative economies and reproductive rights: Simplify the Holidays and Endangered Species Condoms. Before joining the Center, Malia worked in healthcare patient access and administration. She holds a bachelor’s degree from Macalester College in geography and public health. |
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Ellen Herlihy, Student Activist, Bard College Ellen Herlihy (she/her/hers) is a third year student at Bard College studying Human Rights. On campus she is the Co-Club Head of the Planned Parenthood Generation Action Chapter. Ellen also works for the Office of Title IX and Nondiscrimination and recently helped put together the Bard College Trans Resource Guide. She is passionate about making all types of resources accessible to college students, especially those in marginalized communities, through both her job and the extracurriculars she is involved in. Currently Ellen is involved in trying to expand access to a variety of resources by implementing a Wellness Vending Machine at Bard College that will increase access to emergency contraception and harm reduction supplies on campus. |
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Lisa Chaudhari, Co-Director for the HERE Center, California State University Dr. Lisa Chaudhari is a co-director for the HERE Center and a instructor at CSUN. Dr. Chaudhari’s interdisciplinary background allows her to collaborate with various community partners, students, faculty and staff, and various stakeholders in the San Fernando Valley. Dr. Chaudhari’s work, teaching, and research focus on the nexus of health and wellbeing, the environment, and culture. She teaches in Health Sciences, Sustainability and Queer Studies programs at CSUN. She sees the value of implementing high-impact practices of service learning into the classroom where students engage with community or campus partners through experiential learning projects to explore heavy topics such as climate crisis, human health, and sustainability through garden and green space projects. |