Last week, the University of Cincinnati’s Wellness Center hosted an event called “Sexploration” – here is the Enquirer’s article about it. And here is the letter that I wrote to the Enquirer about the event:

The University of Cincinnati is hosting a “Sexploration” week, sponsored by local sexual aid company Pure Romance, to educate UC students about sexual health. After reviewing the event web site and the web sites of the presenters, “sexual health” apparently involves free condoms, talking about porn, and complaining about censorship.

As far as I can tell, the week will not include a single word about preparing yourself for a committed sexual relationship, resisting the urge to “hook up” for shallow and empty sex, or learning about the meaning of love and sex from any of the great writers, philosophers, and scholars who are studied at UC.

Ironically, the great novelist John Updike, who wrote more honestly about sex than perhaps any other American writer, died last week. After UC students have collected their free condoms and taken their free HIV tests, maybe they should head over to the library and become educated about sex in a more holistic fashion.

To put the issue another way: if there is a problem with the way that college students approach sex and sexuality, are free condoms and conversations about porn the solution?