During the June meeting of James Madison University's Board of Visitors, the Board did not discuss the signatures students gathered in protest of the Board's April 18 decision to discontinue dispensing emergency contraceptive pill on campus.
The April decision by the JMU Board came in response to pressure from State Delegate Bob Marshall, who also campaigned for the University and other state schools to stop offering the pill at campus health centers. The decision met opposition from many students.
"Some 3,000 students signed a petition asking that the decision be revoked," JMU Director of Communications Fred Hilton said.
The decision was not revoked, and the Board did not comment on the signatures.
"The students asked that the signatures be brought to the Board," Hilton said.
"The Board received the report but they did not take any action to reverse the original decision."
JMU Board member Mark Obenshain said he knew the signatures were not going to receive the attention the students desired.
"It was not on the Board's agenda," Obenshain said.
He attributes the students' hope for discussion of the signatures to a misperception of standard Board meeting procedures.
"I had no expectation that it was going to be revisited and if people did they misunderstood the process," Obenshain said.
Despite criticism, Obenshain maintains his position on banning the pill.
"I don't retreat from my view one bit," Obenshain said. "I understand [the students] different views, but I support the Board's decision."
The April 18th decision banned the sale of the emergency contraceptive drug, but not its prescription.
"The JMU Health Center is no longer allowed to distribute the pill, due to a 7-6 vote by the Board of Visitors last April," JMU Women's Studies Professor Dr. Elizabeth Ihle said.
The Board first heard a motion to stop prescribing the pills, but the motion failed, Hilton said.
"The ban is currently in effect, but women who are given the prescription can get it filled locally," Ihle said.
Students say they believe banning the pill on campus will increase pregnancies, especially among freshmen who are not allowed cars on campus.
"By banning the morning after pill, they are making it so that it's more likely there would be a pregnancy," JMU rising senior Holly Medeiros said. "I think it will discourage students from getting the pill. Freshmen are very restricted to campus because they don't know what is off campus. No one has friends who have cars because they just arrived, and not all the buses go to the doctor's office."
Ceasing the sale of the pill will not have a financial impact on JMU.
"There has been no impact financially," Hilton said. "The pill was sold to students at $15 a dose, which is how much the pill cost them. They broke even so there is no difference."
One University student expressed concern about similar decisions being made at the University.
"U.Va. is very conservative, we will probably have to deal with similar issues soon," rising fourth-year college student Nikkyia Mines said.
The University's Board of Visitors did not discuss ECP at its June meeting.
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