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Printer-Friendly Mode‘Sex in an Envelope’ draws crowd with mystery
September 28, 2009 —
Sharing sexually transmitted infections, putting condoms on fruit, and discussing early pregnancy — all in a night’s work for the Latex League and resident assistants working the “Sex in an Envelope” event.
Freshman lined the hall outside the Student Activity Room on Wednesday night to learn what the program’s title meant.
“I have no idea what it’s about. No one told us anything,” said Carson Beauchaine, a secondary education freshman.
Aside from a provocative name and the promise of food and prizes, the Peer Health Educators and Residential Life wanted to provide SVSU students with a practical and fun sexual education.
“We recognize some students are sexually active,” said Michele Gunkelman, director of Residential Life.
She added that this fact gives all the more reason to create a fun event to inform students about safe sex and abstinence.
The goal was to create an environment where students can easily ask questions and have fun while taking something helpful from the event besides a free condom.
“This is the same info we’ve all heard before,” said Scott Solo, a criminal justice freshman, “but this is the most interesting way I’ve heard this stuff.”
Each student was given a sealed envelope, with instructions to have resident assistants sign it. At the end of the event, students were prompted to open their envelope based on who had signed it.
Inside these were written scenarios, such as “not wearing a condom” or “just using birth control.” In these hypothetical situations, if students had sex without protection, they contracted infections such as gonorrhea, or perhaps became pregnant.
Gunkelman said she realizes the information presented at “Sex in an Envelope” will not sink in for every student who attended, but there were those who did want to learn.
“A perfect example are those students staying after the program to learn from Latex League and choosing to learn how to use a condom properly,” said Gunkelman.
Choice was an important theme heard throughout the event. Amy Shurlow, resident director, emphasized the seriousness of students’ decisions.
“If you choose to sleep with someone, you choose to sleep with everyone that person has slept with,” Shurlow said.