Also passed by the Student Assembly on Monday was a resolution calling on Binghamton University to determine whether its nondiscrimination policies are incompatible with the Food and Drug Administration’s policy that excludes men who have had sexual intercourse with another man from donating blood.

The resolution notes that AIDS is not confined to the homosexual community and that the policy of excluding gay men from giving blood to prevent its spread is not supported by evidence. It also states that the Red Cross itself supports allowing men to give blood one year after sexual intercourse with another man. The FDA makes all decisions regarding the requirements for blood donation.

The resolution does not call on the University to take more radical steps, such as banning the Red Cross on campus. Instead, it asks BU’s administration to examine how the discrepancy between these policies “affects the University’s population.”

Matt Landau, the SA’s president-elect who introduced the resolution, considers it a success.

“Whether you agree with the FDA policy or not, it’s the FDA policy and we can’t change that, so it’s not fair to not have any blood donations on campus,” he said. “The University looks into it and then tries to use the University as a tool to lobby the FDA, which is what other universities have done.”