Who or What is BC Really?

Karl Bell, assistant director of the Student Programs Office (SPO), approached a group of Boston College Students For Sexual Health (BCSSH) distributing condoms on College Road and challenged them about their right to distribute condoms at that location.

He seemingly approached them to determine how knowledgeable the students were about their rights. The students whom he approached were relatively new members of the club and did not know how to respond to a challenge from an administrator when they were indeed in a place where they are allowed to distribute condoms.

It seems that in some way Bell's challenge could be helpful to BCSSH because they now hopefully realize the need to educate new members on the issues. I have a great deal of respect for Bell and what he has done for BC; this challenging of new members of a controversial organization counts among one of his positive contributions to our community.

I do, however, take issue with his saying that the BC aspect of the name Boston College Students for Sexual Health is a misnomer because they are not technically a part of BC, and are not sanctioned by the University's administration.

This issue of attaching BC to the front of an unregistered student organization begs the questions: What makes an organization "BC" and who is "BC?" Is an organization BC because SPO says it is eligible for funding and can reserve space on campus? Is an organization BC because it ideologically lines up with the mission of the University on all counts? Or is an organization BC when the student body approves of it and recognizes a need for it?

While all of these are certainly ways to become "BC," the most important and most legitimate way to be considered a part of BC is to gain the approval of our student body. What better argument for the student body being "BC" than our chants at athletic events? In call and response style we shout, "We are … BC." The administration has never objected to the student body referring to themselves as "BC" because we were granted that title when we enrolled in the University. If a BC student is involved in an organization, even if it does not have the approval of the University, that organization has a flavor of BC.

The student body has recognized the need for an increased awareness of the availability (or lack there) of sexual health services on campus.

Three years ago the BC student body passed a sexual health referendum with an overwhelming majority. It lacked teeth and a clear purpose, but it made the wishes of our BC community clear. BCSSH is a response to this referendum and the wants and needs of the student body. To deny that they are a part of BC is in some way a denial that we are BC.

For us to be fully BC we need the administration to recognize that when a BC student participates in an organization, even if it is unregistered, that organization is BC.