Sex is a topic that's very common on college campuses, but it's not one
that's often discussed in the classroom.
University of Tennessee Sophomore LeAndra Parker said, "It's more open
now than it used to be back then."
University of Tennessee Junior Jacob Clark said, "When we sent out a
survey we asked over 500 students how many courses dealing with sexuality and
gender they had taken and the most common answer was zero or one."
Clark and fellow UT Junior Brianna Rader started a campus organization called
"S.E.A.T." (Sexual Empowerment and Awareness at Tennessee) in an
effort to answer sexual questions from their peers.
Rader said, "They didn't know where to get birth control, they're
struggling with issues of gender, sexuality and religion. The education they
got in high school or middle school was from their families or churches. It
wasn't really sufficient. Then they were thrown into the college atmosphere and
this hook-up culture."
To help educate the college students, S.E.A.T. is sponsoring "Sex Week
2013" on UT's campus April 7th - 12th, which will feature four sex experts
and nearly 30 events covering several topics including sex health and
abstinence.
UT Senior Quentin Puckette said, "I think that it's good to have some
type of education on sex."
Parker said, "It's good to talk about it not just with your friends,
but throughout the community to keep everybody aware of what's going on and how
to protect yourself in certain situations."
Clark and Rader say prestigious universities like Yale, Harvard, and Brown
all have Sex Week on their campuses, but the organizers of UT's Sex Week still
experience some opposition.
Clark said, "Sometimes we get an eyebrow raised from a student here and
there, but they are always willing and eager to talk to us and once they hear
about it they do find that we do have an event in our week and if we don't we
do our best to make one."
The cost of Sex Week 2013 is $18,195. Organizers say the money
is coming from private donations and normal routes any student organization may
take to request money from student fees.