Boston College

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Boston College Tells Students to Stop Distributing Condoms

Boston College officials have threatened to take disciplinary action against students who distribute free condoms through a campus network of dormitory rooms and other locations, saying that the practice contradicts the institution’s Jesuit mission, according to The Boston Globe.

In a letter this month, campus officials demanded an end to student-run “Safe Sites,” where contraceptives and safe-sex information are distributed. The letter, signed by the college’s dean of students and its director of residence life, said the practice violated a “responsibility to protect the values and traditions of Boston College as a Jesuit, Catholic ­institution,” the newspaper reported.

The letter went on to warn the students that although they may not be violating the college’s rules intentionally, the matter “would be referred to the student-conduct office for disciplinary action” if officials received reports that condoms were being distributed on the campus. A student who leads a sexual-health group on the campus told the newspaper her group was “very disappointed” that the administrators did not contact them beforehand. The group previously had a positive relationship with the administration, she said.

A college spokesman said in a written statement cited by the newspaper that students know distributing condoms violates the institution’s rules and that the college asks them to respect its commitment to Roman Catholic teachings.

“We recognize that, as a reflec­tion of society at large, many students do not agree with the church’s ­position on these issues,” he added. “However, we ask those who do not agree to be respect­ful of our ­position and circumspect in their private ­affairs.” He said he hoped the students would accept an offer to meet with administrators to discuss the matter.

A representative of the ACLU of Massachusetts told the newspaper that she planned to take legal action if the college did not reconsider its threat.

Update (3/27/2013, 9:33 p.m.): The campus chapter of the American Association of University Professors issued a statement condemning the college’s threat to discipline students for distributing condoms.

Filed under: Students, Boston College

Supreme Court Temporarily Halts Boston College’s Release of IRA Interviews

The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday granted another stay temporarily preventing Boston College from releasing to British authorities interviews that academic researchers conducted with a former member of the Irish Republican Army. Justice Steven G. Breyer issued the order after granting an initial delay earlier this month. A previous decision by a lower court had required the college to release the records. The new stay will end on November 16 if the researchers involved in the so-called Belfast Project do not ask the Supreme Court to hear their appeal. Boston College is not a party to the appeal, although it is awaiting a ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit on its appeal of a second subpoena, seeking other IRA interviews.

Filed under: Research, Boston College

Merrimack College Will Create 6 Women’s Teams to Settle Title IX Complaint

Merrimack College, a Division II institution in Massachusetts, has settled a gender-discrimination complaint against its athletics department by agreeing to create six women’s teams, including an ice-hockey squad that will compete at the Division I level. The new teams will increase the number of athletic opportunities for women by more than 80, making the share of female athletes “substantially proportional” to the percentage of women in the student body—a key measure of compliance with federal gender-equity law.

Under the settlement, which was announced on Monday evening by the U.S. Education Department’s Office for Civil Rights, the college will also increase its financial aid to female athletes.

The settlement followed a review by the civil-rights office of the college’s compliance with Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, which bars discrimination against women at colleges that receive federal aid. In a news release, the department noted that the college’s leaders had “worked collaboratively” in reversing its prior record of inequitable treatment of its female athletes.

The settlement is the latest in a series that the civil-rights office has reached with colleges accused of gender bias in sports, including Yale University, Ball State University, and Lincoln Land Community College. The agreements are part of a more aggressive enforcement of Title IX by the civil-rights office under the Obama administration, including a reversal of a Bush-era policy that eased compliance with the gender-equity law.

Filed under: Boston College

U.S. Supreme Court Delays Boston College’s Release of IRA Records

Following a federal appeals court’s decision in July to uphold a ruling requiring Boston College to release to British authorities confidential interviews with former members of the Irish Republican Army, Justice Stephen G. Breyer of the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday granted a temporary stay that delays the release of some of those interviews.

In a news release, Ed Moloney, one of the researchers involved in the so-called Belfast Project, said the stay would remain in place until October 11, when the federal government responds to an application from the researchers’ lawyers asking that the release of an interview with a former IRA member, Dolours Price, be delayed until the Supreme Court decides whether it will hear the case.

Boston College is not a party to the researchers’ appeal involving the Price interview, according to a spokesman for the institution, though the college is appealing a second subpoena that seeks parts of seven other interviews with former IRA members. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit heard that appeal this month, and the college is awaiting the court’s ruling.

Filed under: Research, Boston College