Alcohol, sex on agenda at workshop

Of the roughly 50 students who met in the Rockefeller College common room for the three-hour workshop, titled “Sex and Alcohol on Campus — A Frank Discussion,” many were members of the ACC or peer advisers in Sexual Harassment/Assault Advising, Resources, and Education.

“The combination of sex and alcohol is potent, and its temptations and allure will never cease,” argued Jeff Nunokawa, the master of Rockefeller College, in his introductory speech.

Nonetheless, Nunokawa said he hoped those in attendance might “remind ourselves of our responsibilities even — and maybe especially — under the influence of the allure of sex and alcohol.”

Students experiment with alcohol and sex at college because of the freedom they experience in their first time away from home, said Anita McLean, director of counseling and psychological services at University Health Services.

“Alcohol and sex are exciting at every stage in our lives. At the college experience, there’s something about the alcohol and sex that is really gripping,” McLean explained in her keynote speech.

After the introductory speeches, students split up into two rounds of discussion groups led by SHARE peer advisers. The first session featured single-sex discussions and was followed by male and female groups combining in a second session on the topics. The discussions were confidential, and each student referenced in this article agreed to be quoted.

In a roughly 15-person discussion on gender in the Princeton social scene, many students agreed that both men and women hold an ideal of masculinity in which men try to hook up with as many women as they can, and women try to make themselves attractive to such men.

Nearly all of the discussions throughout the workshop focused on relations between heterosexual men and women and the pressures facing each group.

“The morning after a Thursday or Saturday night out, the first question that people ask is not ‘Did you have a good time last night?’ or ‘Did you have fun,’ but rather ‘Did you hook up with someone?’ ” noted Brian Wettach ’13, a member of the discussion group on gender roles.

“The one-time hookup has become the status quo, and long-term relationships are the oddity here,” Wettach added.

Chris Harding ’12, another participant in the discussion, said one factor contributing to the hookup culture on campus is the economics of dating.

“Princeton is an expensive place, and a date to Nassau Street would easily cost upwards of $45,” Harding noted, proposing that the University allow students to use some dining hall meals off campus as a way of overcoming this problem.

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Another reason for the predominance of Street-centered hookups is that other opportunities for sexual interactions are rare for students, Harding said, because students spend most of their time either in class or doing coursework.

Other discussions broached the topics of consent on campus, the response of the student community, and social values and norms on campus.

Amy Campbell, director of campus-life initiatives and the faculty chair of the ACC, said the workshop was a unique opportunity “for everyone to come and talk honestly about issues that relate to alcohol and sex.”

Michael Olin, director of student life at Wilson College and co-chair of the workshop, said that notes from the discussion tables will be synthesized by the ACC, which will then “try to find ways to address these problems.”

“One of the ways that we do this, as in the past, is through a possible working group that looks into an idea more in-depth,” Olin explained.