Sex Week at Yale

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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."^[1] 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.

1 History of Sex Week at Yale
2 Sex Week at Yale the Magazine
3 Sex Week at Yale the film
4 Awards and Recognition
5 Officers
6 Sources
7 References

[edit] 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."^[2]

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".^[3]

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.

[edit] Sex Week at Yale the Magazine

In February of 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.^[4] 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.”^[5]

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.

[edit] 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."^[6]