By By Emily Cummins, Assistant Features Editor
Most students either believe the rumor though or at least make fun of it. The Red Team for the fall 2005 Hofstra Film Club 48-hour film festival made a short entitled “Hofstra Red,”a comedy/documentary about the horrible Hofstra Red monster who spreads the infamous STD around campus.
The University does not have a significantly high rate of STDs in comparison to other colleges. According to the Trojan Sexual Health Report Card, an annual ranking of sexual health at American colleges and universities, the schools with the worst sexual health are Chicago State University (No. 137), Marshall University (No. 138), DePaul University (No. 139), Brigham Young University (No. 140) and the University of Idaho (No. 141). Hofstra University is not included in the list. This is possibly due to the fact that any STD testing at the University needs to be reported to Nassau County and is not separated as its own college entity.
The director of the Health and Wellness Center, Maureen Houck, could not be reached for comment, but did comment on the matter in a Chronicle article from 2006.
“I have heard the rumors that Hofstra has its own STD, along with the highest rate of STDs than any other college since I have gotten here, which has been nine years,” she said.
“There is no truth in it whatsoever because if anyone would have those statistics it would be me, and I don’t have them.”
Some faculty are not as well versed in these rumors.
“I’m not aware of the term Hofstra Red, but if you’re referring to STDs, then statistics show that STDs are most prevalent in persons under the age of 25. As a result, college students are especially at risk for contracting such diseases,” said Dean of Students Pete Libman when asked about the rumor.
“That’s why it’s extremely important for students who are sexually active to take every precaution possible (i.e. condoms) to prevent the spread of such disease. It’s also important for the University to educate students on this topic,” Libman continued.
The university promotes health on campus and even subscribes to Student Health 101, a monthly health education e-newsletter geared for the college audience.
Students should use the health information provided by the university to their advantage to keep Hofstra Red the way it is: an unvalidated myth.
The Hofstra Red turns out to be just another crazy Hofstra rumor. (Graphic by Matt Scotto)