Sex Week at Yale

Founded in 2002 by then Yale College sophomore Eric Rubenstein BK'04, Sex Week at Yale is a biennial event proclaimed on its website as, "an interdisciplinary sex education program designed to pique students’ interest through creative, interactive, and exciting programming." [ [http://www.sexweekatyale.com/about.htm Sex Week at Yale 2008 ] ] Sex Week at Yale explores love, sex, intimacy and relationships by focusing on how sexuality is manifested in America, helping students to reconcile these issues in their own lives. The week gives students access to professionals both in the classroom and during informal events, including debates, seminars, fashion shows, concerts, and discussions. The events provide students the opportunity to learn about love, sex, intimacy, and relationships from experienced professionals who deal with these issues every day in their professional lives.

History of Sex Week at Yale

Sex Week at Yale began as a Jewish event, a "Kosher Sex Week", to get Jews involved in the Jewish community who would otherwise not be involved. After weeks of organizing this Jewish-centric event, the week's founder approached other student groups with the idea and they swiftly got involved. As mentioned in the Yale Herald in 2002, "Soon the Women's Center, the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Co-op, and Student Health Education (which had always given sex talks around Valentine's Day) were on board to co-sponsor the project. As a result, the focus of the event widened to include not only "kosher sex," but also safe sex, great sex, college sex, and tantric sex. Thus was "Campus-wide Sex Week", as the event has been re-titled, born." [ [http://www.yaleherald.com/article.php?Article=258 The Yale Herald - February 15, 2002 - Gathering titillating tips at Sex Week ] ]

Campus-wide Sex Week was not the end of Sex Week at Yale's growth. Campus-wide Sex Week was a campus-centric event. The event was composed of talks by a number of Yale professors, a series of talks by Yale's peer health educators, a film festival and a celebrity panel entitled "Sex and Entertainment". [ [http://www.theatlantic.com/issues/2003/01/rosenbaum.htm The Atlantic | January/February 2003 | Sex Week at Yale | Rosenbaum ] ]

Still, it was not until the summer of 2003 when the week found its focus and grew its scope. Sex Week at Yale in its current form takes a multi-disciplinary approach, enlisting a diversity of speakers from company executives, to sex therapists, to professors, clergy, adult film stars, and everyone in between.

Sex Week at Yale "the Magazine"

In February 2006, nearly 25,000 copies of “Sex Week at Yale: The Magazine” were distributed among 18 of the country’s best-known universities, including all schools in the Ivy League. [http://thedartmouth.com/2006/02/13/news/yale/ TheDartmouth.com | Yale University magazine to debut at Dartmouth ] ] Asked why a nationally distributed magazine accompanied the week of Sex Week events, then Sex Week at Yale director and magazine publisher, Dain Lewis, said, “We wanted to bring the experience outside of just Yale... It would even be a shame if it were limited only to Yale because it’s just that good.”

Among the magazine's notable contributors included Jim Griffiths, President of the Playboy Entertainment Group, John Gray, Ph.D., author of “Men Are From Mars Women Are From Venus” and columnists from such publications as Cosmopolitan, Men’s Health and Maxim.

Sex Week at Yale "the film"

In a February 2008 press release, Sex Week at Yale organizers tout a documentary film about the event to be released later that same year. "The documentary will trace Sex Week from inception to realization, including interviews with students and faculty. The film is scheduled for release in April 2008 and a trailer will be available on the Sex Week website." [http://www.sexweekatyale.com/2008_release.pdf]

Awards and Recognition

2004 Collegiate Network Campus Outrage Award [ [http://www.isi.org/cn/pollys/polly04.aspx Collegiate Network - Members - 2004 Campus Outrage Awards ] ] [ [http://www.isi.org/cn/pollys/04/pollyyale.aspx Collegiate Network - Members - 2004 Campus Outrage Awards ] ] - first place

2006 Trojan Sexual Health Report Card [ [http://www.bestplaces.net/docs/studies/SexualHealth.aspx Sexual Health on College Campuses ] ] [ [http://www.yaledailynews.com/articles/view/18084?badlink=1 Yale Daily News - Univ. earns clean bill of sexual health ] ] - first place and only school with a perfect score

Sources

http://www.sexweekatyale.com/about.htm

http://www.sexweekatyale.com/about_hist.htm

http://www.sexweekatyale.com/contact.htm

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11414223/

http://www.isi.org/cn/pollys/polly04.aspx

http://www.isi.org/cn/pollys/04/pollyyale.aspx

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/23/education/edlife/MAGAZINES.html?pagewanted=print

http://thedartmouth.com/2006/02/13/news/yale/

http://www.theatlantic.com/issues/2003/01/rosenbaum.htm

http://www.yaleherald.com/article.php?Article=2988

http://www.yaleherald.com/article.php?Article=4469

http://www.yaleherald.com/article.php?Article=258

http://www.bestplaces.net/docs/studies/SexualHealth.aspx

http://www.yaledailynews.com/articles/view/18084?badlink=1

References