Sex education at Otterbein is a topic that has received much attention in recent years, but the student affairs office has been taking steps to increase sexual health awareness on campus.
The division of student affairs is responsible for informing students about campus safety, including alcohol, drugs and sex education.
In a recent guest blog published by Otterbein360, Tylina Burdell challenged the student affairs office to offer more services to students. However, the student affairs office had already begun making progress this year.
Julie Saker, the associate dean of students at Otterbein, said, “This summer there was a small group of faculty that got together and decided we need to address sexual health on campus. We believe that STD testing is needed because students cannot afford the testing most of the time, and because of the age group a college campus is a high-risk area.”
Several upcoming events offer students a chance to learn more about sexual health at Otterbein.
On Oct. 8, the student affairs office will be hosting an event about sexual health and alcohol safety. This event is called “Campbell’s Soup, Frosted Flakes and Sex” and will be at 8 p.m. in the Rike Center. It is a comedic presentation and will end in free t-shirts and pizza.
In addition to this event, there will be free STD testing in the health center on Oct. 20 from 10 a.m. - 3 p.m. This testing is provided through Columbus Public Health.
This event is intended to help students to be proactive about their sexual health. Since many sexually transmitted diseases do not have identifiable symptoms, many young adults live with an undetected STD. This event allows sexually active students on campus to have a confidential screening and check for an undetected STD.
