Tougaloo College receives grant, expands campus sexual health education. Read details here

Tougaloo College is one of five historically Black colleges and universities which received a grant in February to expand student-led sexual and reproductive health education.

The grant comes from Power to Decide, a nonpartisan nonprofit which aims to advance sexual and reproductive education for regions that have barriers, such as the South.

Power to Decide received the funds from global women's healthcare company Organon's initiative Her Plan is Her Power, which launched in 2023. Charlotte Owens, Organon head of medical affairs and outcomes research, said Her Plan is Her Power is a community-led solution for areas most in need.

"Mississippi is one of the 15 states with the highest unintended pregnancy rates and does not extend Medicaid coverage to low income adults or for reproductive care to women beyond 12 months postpartum," Owens said. "This really leads to a lack of contraception access, and you can imagine a higher risk for unplanned pregnancies in 2020. Mississippi had the highest teen birth rate of any state with 27.9 births for every 1000 girls, aged 15-19. We hope that what we're doing here can really make sure that people are educated and inspired and empowered to be able to make a decision about when and whether to decide to start a family."

The grant funds support a student-led initiative called Beyond the Sheets. Created by Power to Decide, Beyond the Sheets focuses on four principals.

"We like to say, 'We listen, we engage, we mobilize and we help our young people influence," JeNeen M. Anderson, Power to Decide senior director of health equity, said.

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Anderson said Beyond the Sheets is of particular importance in South, where the majority of HBCUs are located, because of the recent reversal of Roe v. Wade. The reversal allowed for states to implement abortion bans.

"We know that about three fourths of HBCUs are located in states where there are either total or partial bans," Anderson said. "Our young people at these schools, they're not able to have access to certain services that they should be able to have access to. HBCUs are very well positioned to be able to fill that gap where their local community is lacking resources and services, especially in regards to education.'

Rokiyah Hobbs and Nayla McClure were selected as Tougaloo College's ambassadors. Hobbs and McClure are the only two ambassadors representing Mississippi.

Beyond the Sheets launched on Dec. 1, 2023, making Hobbs and McClure two of the initiative's 10 inaugural ambassadors.

The role of the ambassador centers on outreach, mainly through social media and content creation. In addition, the ambassadors will hold events committed to raising awareness of sexual and reproductive health care in their respective states.

Hobbs, a junior political science major, said this role fits into her chosen career path. She wants to focus her career on sexual and reproductive health and just completed her doula certification.

McClure, a sophomore political science major, said Hobbs texted her about the ambassadorship last school year just after they both completed a constitutional rights class.

"As ambassadors, we have several roles," McClure said. "The most important one is we have to educate students on sexual wellness and their sexual wellbeing. So, for example, that would be us educating them on what an STD is, how to prevent STDs, maybe where are some places or some resources in Mississippi that they can go to get STD testing."

Hobbs and McClure have already hit the ground running in their new roles and recently held a Valentine's Day event on the Tougaloo campus. During the event, the pair handed out care packages including emergency contraceptive, educational pamphlets and condoms.

Both students agreed the Beyond the Sheets initiative is unlike anything seen previously on the Tougaloo campus.

Hobbs said some of the Tougaloo students are still getting accustomed to talking about sexual health openly since the subject is often considered taboo in Mississippi.

"That's something I definitely hope to change, especially now since I have this role of Beyond the Sheets ambassador. I see this like, wow, this is really affecting us significantly," Hobbs said.

McClure shared similar sentiments.

"Sex and sexual wellness is a very taboo subject in Mississippi," McClure said. "Particularly in the African American community, it's not something that we talk about a lot, and there are several different reasons and factors that go into that. So, I think that's why this program is important, especially to HBCUs."

The eight other ambassadors are from other HBCUs including Fayetteville State University, Tuskegee University, University of the Virgen Islands and Xavier University of Louisiana.

In the spring, Hobbs and McClure will join their fellow ambassadors in Washington, D.C. for a retreat.

Anderson described Beyond the Sheets as a "pilot program" and hopes to expand to every HBCU across the nation.

Hobbs emphasized the novelty of a program like this in Mississippi.

"We want to show that we want to talk about these topics," Hobbs said. "We want to be open. We want to change the culture of how things have been done regarding sexual and reproductive wellbeing."

This article originally appeared on Mississippi Clarion Ledger: Tougaloo College receives grant to expand sexual health education