Cheap alcohol, music, hooking up. No college party is complete without them, just as no Gender Week is complete without a discussion about sex.
A fundamental of the college party scene, the "hook-up" took center stage Tuesday night in the first dialogue of sexual health during Gender Week at UB.
"Hooking Up, Having Sex, Making Love," drew several dozen students to hear what experts had to say and then have their own passionate discussion.
According to event organizers, people with different cultural backgrounds, sexual histories and beliefs all see the topics of sex and sexual health in a different light.
"As a whole we want to increase the dialogue on campus about what sexual health is and how students relate to that," said Sherri Darrow, director of Student Health and Wellness.
Sex on college campuses itself has become a hot topic for research among social scientists because it has changed so much over the years.
The multidisciplinary panel discussion featured four professionals who each spoke on a different topic concerning sexual health. After the panelists were done, the floor was opened to questions and discussion, in which there was hardly a dull moment - perhaps evidence that such a discussion was long overdue on campus.
The first part of the event's title, "hooking up," dominated most of the discussion.
To "hook up" means many different things to college students, said Dr. Ingrid Johnston-Robledo, a psychology professor at SUNY Fredonia, who defined a hook-up as a spontaneous sexual encounter usually lasting one night.
The discussion's mood was an open one, as about 50 students gathered in the Student Union Theater to discuss sex as adults with no giggles or whispers.
After a while of back-and-forth conversation, the general consensus was there is nothing wrong with the occasional hook-up as long as safety is kept in mind.
Much of the debate was over the topics of alcohol use and promiscuity. Johnston-Robledo said hook-ups don't necessarily involve intercourse, and most involve use of either alcohol or drugs by one or both parties.
Many students, participants pointed out, go out for the night with the goal of a hook-up in mind, with at least someone if not a specific person. The event also sparked debate over what makes someone a "slut" by modern standards.
By the definition of the few men in attendance, it was a girl who is overly promiscuous and doesn't seek a relationship. Most of the girls said they believed it was defined as someone, male or female, who is involved in several hook-ups a week.
Although the focus was on sex, the conversation also wandered from why students drink when they go out, to entirely different topics such as health services on campus, child support, preventing pregnancy and date rape.
Buffalo-area gynecologist Kathrine Morrison, who runs an abortion clinic, talked about the Plan B morning-after pill. Christopher Spicer, an employee at Planned Parenthood and another panelist, spoke about the involvement of responsible males in family planning and decision making.
The role of males in relationships and in the community has diminished greatly since the women's sexual revolution, Spicer said. He has no problem with women being involved in relationships and family planning, but called males to become partners again as opposed to taking a back seat.
"I'd like to challenge male students to get involved not only in their health and wellness, but in the community," Spicer said.
The primary themes of the evening, sex aside, were being involved and staying smart.
Johnston-Robledo warned the students about what she called "pluralistic ignorance," or thinking that you are the only one who feels a certain way, when in fact a majority thinks other people are more comfortable in sexual situations than they truly are.
Remember, Johnston-Robledo said, you are not alone.
Photo: Courtesy of Matthew Messina, from the RMBERS' Instagram page
