This past week was Trinity’s inaugural Sex Week, a pilot program designed by Katherine Hewitt, coordinator of Wellness Services.

“The numbers of attendance for Pizza and Pleasure declined last year “” that was our sixth year “”  so it makes sense to me that she would want to try something different, something fresh,” Richard Reams, associate director of Counseling Services, said.

Hewitt’s goal was to create a weeklong, holistic program for students to better understand topics such as sex, dating, relationships, sexual health and sexuality.

“This is the first time we’re doing Sex Week at Trinity, so we’re really treating this as a pilot just to see how it goes. I think there are some really interesting, creative events where hopefully students can take advantage and learn something from. I think it’s great,” said Jackie Bevilacqua, coordinator of Health Services.

The first event for Sex Week is titled “The Bachelorette,” which is a combination of “The Bachelorette” and the famous 1960s game show “The Dating Game.”

“A lot of other colleges offer Sex Week programs that incorporate some sort of matchmaking or incorporate some sort of love aspect. I was trying to figure out what could be fun and modern, and we really wanted to have a gameshow,” Hewitt said.

Ivy Clafin, a sophomore psychology and Spanish double major, was the bachelorette for the night.

“Honestly, it was a really fun experience. It was the goofiest thing I’ve ever done. I had a little script with what kind of questions I was supposed to ask the bachelors. I just asked the bachelors, who I couldn’t see, questions and they answered them. There was a sexual health component, I believe, and then at the end I chose one of the 3 guys, and he gave me a rose. We got a gift card for $40 for the restaurant La Fonda,” Claflin said.

Joseph Khalaf, a junior accounting major, didn’t know what he should  have expected when he decided to attend “The Bachelorette” event at the last minute.

“I thought it would be entertaining to see how it unfolded. I didn’t really know what to expect from the event, so I actually kind of wanted to go to see what the event actually turned out to be,” Khalaf said.

When one of the bachelors was a no-show, Khalaf volunteered to be a participant because he was already present in the audience.

“The audience definitely found it entertaining, to say the least. Myself and Bachelor #3 weren’t taking it seriously at all “” we were just kind of having fun with it.”

Tuesday’s activity titled “Shock the Doc” centered around a mock women’s wellness exam presented by Kristin Brozena Shah, obstetrician/gynecologist and Trinity alumna (“˜02). Shah explained to participants what to expect at a wellness exam, as well as answered audience questions about topics within sexual and physical health.

“I think that we were able to cover a lot of topics that are pretty stigmatized in today’s society. I think it was good that we were able to discuss them with a decent amount of candor and in a comfortable setting with a licensed health care professional to answer our questions in an appropriate, informed way,” said Madeline Kennedy, sophomore political science and Spanish double major said.

As for “Hump Day,” Hewitt elected to not have programming so as not to overwhelm students with the pilot program.

“Sometimes it doesn’t necessarily make it better if there’s more quantity versus quality, so that’s the angle that we’re going with it. We wanted to make sure that the programs we had were top quality and to focus on attendance for those events,” Hewitt said.

For those who participated in the Pizza and Pleasure series, familiar faces from that event will reappear.

“Cay Crowe has been coming to provide some of the sexual and relationship education programs for probably 5 or 6 years,” said Richard Reams, associate director of Counseling Services.

As a certified sex therapist, Crow will host a sidewalk sex clinic in the lobby of Coates University Center on Thursday. There will be trivia and opportunities to get the answers to all types of sex-related questions.

Friday’s event includes a Sex Week fair with sexual health vendors and information in the lobby of Coates.

“It will be a solid tabling event for a lot of student organizations, campus resources, and community resources,” Hewitt said.

The resources available are PRIDE, the San Antonio AIDS Foundation, the Love Shack, Coalition for Respect, Planned Parenthood and Health Services.

“Everything that I learned about sexual health I learned because I thought that it was important to get informed,” Kennedy said.

The sexual-education program at her high school was nonexistent.

“I think that any time that we can open up the conversation about sexual health and sexual activity and discuss it in a way that’s mature and open is a valuable experience. So I think that it’s good that we had Sex Week here to allow us to do so.”

“I went to a private, non-religiously affiliated high school, so we did take a health class that basically served as a sex-ed class,” Khalaf said.

Looking back at this health class, Khalaf was not satisfied with the amount he learned.

“Especially after being at Trinity and hearing about what other people had in other states, my education could have definitely been more in-depth,” Khalaf said.

Other students have also expressed concern over their lack of knowledge.

“It baffles me how many people are uneducated about sexual health and sexual education. It’s so logical that everyone should be properly educated.” said Claflin.

This sexual health education series has been sponsored by Wellness Services, PRIDE and Zeta Chi.