Last Wednesday, I spent two painfully long hours listening to presenters from Sexual Assault Prevention and Awareness Center speak about the importance of consent before a sexual encounter, knowing one’s personal values and identifying dangerous sexual situations. This new program, deemed Relationship Remix by the University, is now required for all freshmen to attend as mandated by University President Mary Sue Coleman.
Although I recognize how prevalent sexual assaults and other non-consensual sexual encounters are on this campus, the Remix program is inherently flawed in that instead of encouraging students to cultivate strong, healthy relationships without the need for sex, it condones sexuality as an essential facet of a relationship. When I walked into the program, I was greeted by a table piled high with flavored condoms, female condoms, oral-sex protection and a wooden penis. Honestly? As long as our culture continues to condone sexual freedom, sexual assaults will remain a permanent fixture of society. Until men and women begin to respect each other’s sexuality and recognize sex as a great gift that should be protected and honored, money will continue to be wasted on programs like Relationship Remix and freshmen like myself will be left to question the moral compass of the University we have chosen to attend.
Eric Sink is an LSA freshman.