We’ve seen what Georgetown University President looks like as a Jack-o-lantern—but what if he were a leprechaun?

Seems he’d be sporting a green fedora and prancing around Red Square, telling passersby and angry members of Plan A Hoyas, “You’ll never get my pot of condoms!”

At least that’s how members of Plan A Hoyas, the controversial group pressuring the University to provide contraceptives, comprehensive sex education, and expanded free speech about sexuality on campus, chose to interpret his Irish side. Frustrated that DeGioia has not responded to the letter they delivered to his office on March 4 following a rally in Red Square, which Plan A Hoya leader Marion Cory (COL ‘10) said asked him to respond by March 15 to their demands, members of Plan A Hoyas turned today to ‘guerrilla theater.’

Their brief performance around 1 p.m. featured students mimicking ineffective contraceptive methods, like pulling out, as a student dressed as ‘Jack O’Gioia’ hugged a pot of condoms and played keep-away, condemning heterosexual and gay sex. Plan A Hoya members circulated a petition for their demands to students who were watching.

The scene concluded when a Plan A member snatched away O’Gioia’s cache and held it up triumphantly. “Condoms!” he exclaimed, before showering Red Square in prophylactics.

Additional reporting by Cole Stangler

H*yas for Choice and United Feminists have partnered up in a new campaign that’s demanding substantial change in Georgetown’s reproductive rights policies. The latter being a University-recognized group, the new movement has the potential to endanger UF’s funding and legitimacy.

Through the campaign, called “Plan A: Hoyas for Reproductive Justice,” the coalition is making demands for access to material benefits, like contraceptives on campus and rape kits at the Georgetown University Hospital, greater free speech allowances for groups like H*yas for Choice, and “comprehensive health education.”

“These are really rational demands broadly supported by the Georgetown community,” Marion Cory (COL ‘10), a board member of United Feminists, told Vox. “It boils down to basic rights, student safety, and student needs.”

Acknowledging that their campaign must adapt to the fact that its advocacy will take place on a Catholic campus, Cory explained that she felt confident their efforts could be successful because their demands were in fact in keeping with Jesuit ideals.

“We don’t see [this campaign] as overcoming Jesuit values, we see it more as asking for Georgetown to consider these issues in their true form, not just the narrows lens it uses now.” she said. “There are a lot of pieces to this issue, like social justice and providing for the health and safety of all people equally.”

She pointed to an open letter the two groups have already written to President John DeGioia on their coalitions’ blog, which she said used a lot of the University’s own language to speak to their demands:

“Issues related to reproductive justice disproportionately affect the lives of people in historically marginalized communities, such as women, people of color, and the economically disadvantaged– the very communities for which Georgetown professes to advocate.

“In addition, the approach Georgetown has taken with regard to discourse around these same issues has been anything but dialogue-promoting. Rather than allow students to openly engage with and discuss issues of choice, sexual health, and contraception, which undeniably shape the society we inhabit, university policies stifle and even prohibit this important exchange of ideas.”

After the jump, the full letter and what this may mean for UF’s Access to University Benefits.

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Trojan just released its annual Sexual Health Report Card for colleges and universities and once again Georgetown is near the bottom of the pack.  This year we received a “GPA” of 2.13 and we’re ranked 121 out of 141 schools that participated, up three from last year.

The rankings measure the “access and availability of sexual health information and resources.”  They are based on student opinion, health center policies, availability of contraceptives and STD testing, presence of advising and support resources.

Although Georgetown is lagging in the overall rankings, our standing improves when you look at how we’re doing compared to other religious schools.  Of the 14 religiously affiliated colleges and universities that were ranked, Georgetown was the 4th highest ranked.  We are also the high ranked Catholic school on the list.

For the penultimate Prefrosh Preview, we’ll be tackling all the various vices you might be interested in engaging in during college: drinking, drugs, sex and smoking. As a disclaimer: Vox isn’t advocating underage drinking or the use of illegal drugs, and most of this information comes from outside sources, not firsthand experience.

Alcohol

Georgetown is definitely a drinking school, and on weekends you can almost always find a party somewhere on or near campus. When going out, there’s no quicker way to be identified as a somewhat obnoxious freshman than to travel with the entirety of your floor. It’s also seen as particularly poor form to crash a party, drain the booze and leave.

At Georgetown, people generally don’t charge guests admittance to parties (a fact your visiting friends will doubtlessly be shocked by). However, if you find a a kindly upperclassmen who frequently supplies you with liquor, it’s nice to reimburse them.

If you’re over 21 (or have an ID that says you are) and prefer bars, here are some of the more popular nearby options:

• Chadwicks (3205 K Street): Good happy hours and champagne brunches.
  
• Champions (1206 Wisconsin Avenue): A favorite among the underage crowd (although it has something of a checkered past).
• Epicurean (On campus, under Darnall): Offers karaoke, and you really can’t beat it for convenience.
• Old Glory (3139 M Street): Strong drinks; the covered back porch with a bar makes it convenient for smokers.
  
• Rhino (3295 M Street): Sketchy, but good wings and a good chance of spotting Real World cast members.
• Smith Point (1338 Wisconsin Avenue): Bastion of prep that prides itself on having a guest list; Late Night Shots central.
• Third Edition (1218 Wisconsin Ave): Relatively cheap; famous for having its exterior used in St. Elmo’s Fire.
• Tombs (1226 36th Street): The closest bar to campus and thus almost exclusively for students, but also the strictest with IDs.

How strict a given bar is with accepting fake IDs varies from bouncer to bouncer, but generally Vox would discourage you from trying your fake at Smith Point, Third Edition and Tombs.

If you’re looking to procure your own spirits, the best bets are Towne (1326 Wisconsin Avenue), Wagner’s (1717 Wisconsin Avenue) and Dixie (3429 M Street; you shouldn’t even think about attempting to use a fake at Dixie, though). Wisey’s also sells beer and wine.

If you’re tired of jostling at the bar for a watered-down rum and coke or an overpriced draft beer, Booey’s is a good bet. Its pitchers are among the cheapest around, and it is open until midnight.

More fun stuff likes drugs, sex and smoking after the jump!

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All class at GWU.

In George Washington University’s great tradition of drawing attention through effective use of symbols, some of its College Democrats took and defaced crosses used at an anti-abortion rally.

A conservative group had placed 1,100 white, wooden crosses on University property on the anniversary of Roe v. Wade, and some of them turned up vandalized scattered around a room shared by GW College Democrats and Republicans. The Washington Post reports:

“Student Republicans later found drawings and writing in black ink on some of the crosses. One depicted a stick figure of a crucified Jesus. Another, hung upside down, had a condom stretched over it. One had the name of a College Democrats leader.”

On the cross featuring the Jesus stick figure, the vandal had also inscribed the words “pwned” and “lol.”

College Democrats took responsibility for the incident and apologized without publicly revealing the name of the vandal. The GW University Police Department is dealing with the perpetrator, writes the GW Hatchet:

“University Spokesperson Tracy Schario said the student responsible has been identified by the University and will face disciplinary action under the Code of Student Conduct. UPD is investigating the incident further.”

Pwned.

Photo by GW College Republicans.

In case you don’t have enough evidence of Georgetown’s health-related failings, Trojan Condoms just released their 2009 Sexual Health Report Card and Georgetown came in a mortifying 124 out of 139. The rankings are based on the accessibility of the health center and the availability of contraceptives, STD testing, and outreach programs.

Last year we were 115 – keep it up and at this rate we could end up on the bottom ten list by next year!

Flickr photo from user Kaptain Kobold used under a Creative Commons license

From the H*yas for Choice weekly email:

The Case of the Missing Condoms
Our stock of condoms went missing from the tabling box sometime between Thursday the 11th and Monday the 15th. We hope that one of our condom reps took them to restock their supply — in the future, please let us know if you took condoms from the tabling box so that we can restock by the next tabling day. If anyone knows what happened to last Thursday’s condoms, please let me know.

Looks like someone, whether it’s an HFC condom rep or just a sneaky student too cheap or lazy to go to CVS, has big plans for this weekend.