I’m going to be a dental floss tycoon

They call themselves the Boston College Students for Dental Health (BCSDH), according to BC’s student newspaper The Heights,but openly admit they don’t care all that much about dental health.

You see, the BCSDH is made up primarily of members of other groups such as The Sons of St. Patrick, the St. Thomas More Society, and the Pro-Life club. Their group is a parody of Boston College Students for Sexual Health (BCSSH), which caused a lot of trouble last academic year (see here and here) and apparently has not quit.

According to The Heights, Michael Villafranca, founder of BCSDH and A&S ’14, said that he and other members of BCSDH were “encouraging students to throw away the condoms and take floss instead.”

Needless to say, the group of students distributing condoms was unamused.

During the distribution, Marion Halftermeyer, a member of BCSSH and A&S ’13, approached Villafranca. At that time, Halftermeyer introduced herself and asked who Villafranca was and what he and the BCSDH were doing.

The message of BCSDH, according to Villafranca, was to tell students, “Make a better decision this weekend, take some floss instead and skip the condoms.”

According to Jessika Parry, president of BCSSH and A&S ’14, the members of BCSDH were “screaming very inappropriate and disrespectful things” during their floss distribution.

“We had just gone over to introduce ourselves and to say that we felt that the way they were expressing their point of view was inappropriate and they weren’t being very respectful to us,” Parry said.

On his response to Halftermeyer, Villafranca said, “I basically told her I didn’t have time for a conversation right then because I was handing out floss, but I’d like to have the conversation at a different time.”

After the brief discussion, both groups continued to distribute their respective items.

The report said some students actually traded in their condoms for floss. Villafranca told also commented on his organization’s goals.

“The reality of BCSDH is that it’s not a group of kids that are pro-dental health. We are just honest and dedicated Catholic kids trying to live the right way and trying to encourage other kids to live that way,” Villafranca said. “We’re not teens, we’re not children anymore, we’re grown men and women, and, at a certain point, we need to make decisions about what’s right and what’s wrong.” Villafranca also explained the origins of BCSDH, saying the organization originated in September when he and his fellow members were upset that BCSSH had distributed condoms on Parent’s Weekend.

He said that he hoped distributing floss would be a funny and ironic way of beginning conversations “not just between [BCSDH] and BCSSH, but between students who walk through both groups.”

[Cardinal Newman Society]