A group of Tea Party students say they are outraged after North Carolina State University purchased about $300 worth of items to demonstrate safe sex -- including an "anal plug," six vibrators, three dildos and a "booty booster."
According to Campus Reform, Union Activities Board (UAB) purchased the sex toys as prizes for a "Dirty Bingo" event scheduled for Feb. 12.
In a letter posted to Facebook, UAB President Lauryn A. Collier explained that $304.69 has been spent on "a few edible undergarments, Fifty Shades of Grey book and game, six vibrators, four surprise packs, three dildos, a toy cleaner, lube, a sex game, a sex position book, an anal plug and a booty booster."
"The purpose of this event is to find an innovative and entertaining way to talk about sex and sex education, particularly on a college campus, which deviates the norm and expected," she wrote. "The certified educators plan to use some of the purchased items (those that are appropriate) to demonstrate safe and healthy sex practices. The programmers of this event wanted to include some ‘gag’ or non-educational prizes to add to the humorous and ‘dirty’ themed event."
Members of the group Young Americans for Liberty, which was originally formed to support former Rep. Ron Paul's (R-TX) 2008 presidential campaign, expressed outrage at the use of student funds for the event.
"The fact that a public university is going to spend mandatory student fees on such an event is just repulsive," Young Americans for Liberty North Carolina co-chair Emma Benson told Campus Reform. "There is nothing that involves reading 50 Shades of Grey or using a butt plug that promotes safe sex."
The group is calling on students to show up at the "Dirty Bingo" event on Tuesday in protest.
"NCSU is not Chapel Hill," NC State student Jason Voluntaryist wrote on Facebook. "We still have some sense of integrity, and we ought to understand the difference between a truly academically relevant event and simply screwing around."
But Collier insisted that the cost of the program works out to be less than a penny per student and that the sexually-explicit prizes were the real issue for some.
"From the concerned students I have spoken to, the issue is not the topic of the event; more so the specific ‘inappropriate’ prizes that were purchased and visualized online," she said. "I have stated that if any of the items are truly offensive and unacceptable, we will not give them away."
"From here I will be working with the programmers and concerned students to pull any items we deem unsuitable for this student event. I do support having events such as this and the traditional 'I [heart] Female Orgasm; program to allow students freedom to learn about healthy sex practices and have pure entertainment doing so."
She concluded: "We understand that not every student will like every event – especially with films, concerts, and tough topics like sex education – but we will continue to listen to students when they voice both concern and appreciation or interest."
