Longwood University’s President’s Office has invited Centra Southside Community Hospital for a joint meeting tomorrow, Friday Feb. 12, with the university’s Title IX advisory group and student activists.
According to the president’s Chief of Staff Justin Pope, “The President’s Office met with some folks from Centra last fall and we expressed our concerns about the SANE nurse issue and listened to their explanation for it.”
Although the university had expressed the importance of making this “a priority,” Centra in turn “expressed some frustration that they hadn’t been able to speak with people on campus directly, to help them understand their side of the story so we’ve invited them back to do just that,” explained Pope.
Students who weren’t a part of the group at the first meeting and interested in the issue have been invited to tomorrow’s meeting as well “so that they can be there and hear those answers,” Pope said.
Last fall, the Longwood College Republicans spearheaded the petition for Centra Southside Community Hospital to “provide the necessary resources for a rape kit to be administered when there are two college campuses comprising of 6,000 students within a six-mile radius.” The petition exceeded the call for 1000 signatures by 400 last November, and currently has 1531 signatures.
The mission statement further stated, “Since there is an absence of rape kits at the location in Farmville, the victim must travel to the nearest hospital (i.e. Richmond or Lynchburg) to have a rape kit administered. Why should such a burden be placed on a victim that has just experienced a traumatic event?”
When asked about what’s to come next, President of the College Republicans, Cameron Kolmer said, “Our hopes are to deliver a document to Centra officials to show a demonstrated interest and need.”
“With Longwood and the Title IX board involved, we are hoping our petition will carry more weight for Centra to take action,” added Kolmer.
From the interview featured by local station WRIC, Centra spokesperson Diane Riley was quoted saying, “This is absolutely not a cost issue. It is most definitely a quality of care issue," Centra elaborated that they believed a better quality of care can be better provided in neighboring locations.
According to Riley, anybody can administer a rape kit. The goal of the petition is for Centra to host Sexual Assault Nurse Examiners (SANE nurses) - to provide more immediate access to overall care for the victims. At the first joint meeting last fall, student activists were unsatisfied with Centra’s response.
From Longwood University’s Student Health and Wellness Center’s webpage, “Sexual Assualt Nurse Examiners (SANE nurses) are available at Centra Hospital in Lynchburg and St. Mary's and St. Francis in Richmond. The Longwood or Farmville Police will assist with transportation if desired. The SANE exam is FREE to you. The State of Virginia will cover the cost.”
Dr. Virginia Beard, assistant professor of criminal justice at Longwood University, elaborated on the motivation behind the continual concern, “The hope is to reach a middle ground between Centra and the community so that there is no significant burden on the hospital and on the victim.”
“Is there a way for Centra to host a highly certified SANE nurse who is able to administer rape kits and to testify in court, on call who can perhaps travel here instead of having the victims travel?” said Beard.
Beard further elaborated, “For a rape victim, a SANE nurse is needed if the case is to go to court. The next thing is to determine the statistics of need in the community. What are the objective numbers and can we come to a compromise between the community, Longwood, and Centra? How can we best provide care overall?”
The student-initiated effort is currently led not only by the College Republicans, but other groups affiliated with the College Republican Federation of Virginia. Alpha Phi Sigma, Lambda Alpha Epsilon, Alpha Chi Rho, and Longwood University’s Student Diversity and Inclusion Council.
Regarding Friday’s meeting, Pope said, “This is what universities do when there are contentious issues. We try to get people in the same room so they can talk about them, explain and ask difficult questions. We are looking forward to it.”
