Michigan State Reconsiders ‘Make Your Own Dildo’ Event

An event at Michigan State University scheduled for Friday that offered students the opportunity to make their own dildos has been postponed.

An event scheduled for Friday evening at Michigan State University has been rescheduled for unknown reasons.

“Try your hand at some sexual-health-based trivia and have the chance to win sexy prizes including body chocolate and ‘fun’ toys,” an advertisement for the event read. “Even make your own external and internal stimulation devices (i.e., dildos)! Free for your pleasure will be condoms in a variety of sizes, dental dams, cookies and more (while supplies last)!”

Michigan State University announced in a tweet that “upon review” of the program, it would be rescheduled for a later date.

UAB supports and encourages healthy relationships for students. Upon review of this weekend’s sexual health education event: Condoms, Cookies and Consent, UAB has decided to reschedule this program in the future. Please check https://t.co/qmMNUSwmLQ for upcoming events.

— MSU UAB (@UABatMSU) January 11, 2018

In a comment to The College Fix, one student condemned the program. “I don’t think [MSU] is promoting safety by helping students create stimulators for their sexual pleasure,” the student said. “It’s almost like you’re encouraging them to have more sex instead of teaching them why it’s important to have safe sex, or stay abstinent.”

In April 2017, Colby College Professor Aaron Hanlon argued that college faculty should have the freedom to place value judgments on campus programming, meaning that faculty should be able to exclude content that they don’t subjectively find valuable in favor of content they do find valuable. “If I end up leaving off James Madison in favor of Edmund Burke, I’m hardly “censoring” Madison [from my course]…Such decisions aren’t about “shutting down” points of view; they’re about finding the most valuable ways to use our limited time and resources,” Hanlon wrote.

Sexual freedom is important, especially for college students. However, in an academic environment in which professors want to be the arbiters of what is and is not valuable to students, Michigan State University’s “make your own dildo” event is another shining example of why academics shouldn’t be trusted with making such a judgment call.

Hanlon and his cadre in academia are interested in stimulating students, just not intellectually.