By Ryan Allen Wight, Copy Editor
Last week was Sex Week! Programming went from Wednesday to Friday, September 22-24, boasting a total of six two-hour events for the benefit of students on campus. Events paired sex education with activities, snacks and treats, and goodie bags. Events were sponsored by Student Senate.
Wednesday’s day event, “Polaroids and Public Safety,” began the week of programming by offering students the opportunity to take vintage snapshots and become familiar with safety and security measures on campus. The evening event, “Plan B(ingo),” provided game-playing and hangout time that raised awareness for contraceptive use, all while executing a near genius-status pun.
Thursday’s daytime Condom Bar provided a colorful buffet of protection; students could pick and choose from a glorious variety of condoms, lubricants, and dental dams, or they could simply grab a pre-made goodie bag. That evening, the Residence Hall Association hosted “Color Me with Consent” to teach about respect, communication, and moral sexual conduct. Activities included making tye-dye shirts and having ice cream.
Friday finished the week with “Cannoli and Consent,” which was an absolutely tasteful event for all involved. Finally, “Sex in the Dark” provided an opportunity for students to ask important questions from the security of anonymity. They also offered glow bracelets, easily making this event the best one.
Clarice Berardinelli is the Chair of the Sex Week committee. The work Berardinelli and her committee put in is apparent from the thoughtfulness and execution of the programming to the letter Berardinelli wrote to the student body about Sex Week, its purpose, and the necessity for sex education.
In my exchange with Berardinelli, I learned that the lack of “[p]roper and inclusive sex education… [in Western New England University’s] community” drives the consistent Sex Week Programming we’ve seen in the past couple years. Berardinelli believes the program series to be “critical for our school,” since it goes beyond the vital awareness for Title IX Services and attempts to educate students on active consent, healthy sex, and healthy relationships.
Additionally, Sex Week programming seeks to spark constructive conversations around sex. Berardinelli wants students “to feel comfortable and empowered to have these conversations… [and] to engage in topics around sex in a light-hearted, yet educational way,” since this is often not characteristic of Title IX conversations.
Sex Week succeeded in its aims, and this required extensive. Kudos to the Sex Week Committee, who began planning last semester and worked on it through the summer. In fact, most of the work was done before classes started! This proactivity allowed for flexibility and success.
The Sex Week events toted grand amounts of free stuff and raffle prizes, activities and cannolis, and WNEK Radio jams within the context of sex education and safety awareness — all designed in a “grab and go” format in order to cater to busy students passing by between classes. Sex Week was most definitely programming for the people.
