Penn State Intercom......February
22 , 2001
Perspective on a
student controversy
There has been a great deal of media attention given to the "Sex Faire" that the student organization called Womyn's Concerns recently held on the University Park campus. A number of radio talk shows and other news outlets have reported on the student event. For that reason, we want to bring Penn State Intercom readers some factual information about it.
This event took place from 7 p.m. to midnight on Saturday, Feb. 3, in the Pollock Commons on the University Park campus. The displays at the event included information on HIV-AIDS, women's and men's reproductive health, acquaintance rape, respect for one's partner and differing views of sexuality. Displays included educational materials, books and games that student organizers designed with intentionally provocative adult themes focusing on anatomy, physiology, relationships and sexuality.
One Pennsylvania legislator has been very vocal about his opposition to the event, suggesting the creation of a state oversight board that some fear would in essence require review of Penn State student and faculty speech with the implication that free speech activities deemed inappropriate by certain legislators will be prevented in the future.
Student organizers
posted a sign on the door leading into the event saying "This room contains
sexually explicit materials -- enter at your own risk," so that students
and others could avoid the materials if they so chose. The same elected
official, however, has shared his description of the material he saw there
broadly in numerous public forums. Student affairs staff and police present
at the event, along with University attorneys, confirmed that nothing
done by the students was illegal.
But in a statement made by Penn State President Graham B. Spanier to members of the state Legislature, he said there were components of this student-run event that were embarrassing and beyond the bounds of good taste. Nevertheless, the University stood behind the right of students to exercise freedom of expression and the right of students to make decisions about how their own funds are spent.
Residence hall buildings such as Pollock are paid for by students through their room and board fees, not through taxpayer funds as indicated in some news reports, and the upkeep of those buildings also is funded entirely by the students living there.
Despite the legalities of the situation, Spanier was troubled by what he saw at the event.
"I want to apologize to you, as I have to others, for any discomfort or confusion caused by the actions of some of our students who, while presenting what they felt was an educational program, exceeded the bounds of good taste expected by most Pennsylvanians," Spanier told the Legislature. "I found components of this event offensive and embarrassing to Penn State," he added. "I pledge to have our staff work with the students to help them plan events that retain their educational value but at the same time minimize the shock value that has been the hallmark of recent programs," Spanier said.
To provide some perspective, Spanier said, it may be worth noting that during the same evening that a small number of students were attending the Sex Faire, there were 16,000 people in the nearby Jordan Center for the Penn State-Indiana basketball game, more than 5,000 people in Rec Hall at the men's and women's gymnastics meet, and several thousand people at the HUB watching movies, playing games, attending a dance, eating and socializing. There was a standing-room only crowd of more than 1,000 students in the HUB's Alumni Hall alone attending the regional finals of the national a cappella student singing competition. Moreover, this past weekend, thousands of students participated in the largest student-run philanthropy in the nation. Months of hard work culminated in raising a record-breaking total of $3.6 million for support of children with cancer, their families and cancer research. Spanier said that he is proud of Penn State's students and regrets that one of the University's more than 500 student organizations might leave a negative impression with the public.