Event is part of an entire consent-themed month
As part of a monthlong series of events centered around the idea of sexual consent, a university offers a “Consent for Men” workshop for students “who identify as male.” The university, however, will not clarify details about the program’s curriculum.
Oberlin College and Conservatory, the exclusive liberal arts school located in Oberlin, Ohio, has declared the month of April to be “consent month” and is offering various consent workshops as part of an outreach effort to students.
The “Consent for Men” event covers “information about consent, communication, sex, hook-up culture, and relationships.”
A listing in a campus brochures says the event “is designed for people who identify as men. It discusses enthusiastic consent and why we should all be using it.”
The College Fix reached out to program coordinator Suzanne Denneen, listed as the event contact on the university’s website, for more information on the workshop, including what’s taught in it, why there is no similar workshop offered for women and what it means to “identify as a male.” Dennen did not respond to multiple requests for comment.
The campus Title IX Coordinator Rebecca Mosely also did not respond to requests for comment. Olivia Canning, a member of the school’s Preventing and Responding to Sexual Misconduct program, said she was unable to answer questions about the workshop.
In the past the school has hosted the male-centric event titled “Men Preventing Sexual Violence: It’s More Than Just Asking For Consent.”
Alex Leslie, senior director of educational services at the Cleveland Rape Crisis Center, spoke at that event in hopes of showing “how men can become more involved in these vital efforts,” according to the school’s website.
The workshops are hosted by student staff members of Preventing and Responding to Sexual Misconduct and the Office of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion.
Last year “Consent Month” at Oberlin included “The Clothesline Project,” an exhibit that features “visual display of shirts with graphic messages and illustrations that have been designed by people who have experienced sexual or gender-based violence,” according to the school’s website.
“The purpose of the project is to increase awareness, to celebrate the strength of those who have experienced harm, and to provide an avenue for them to courageously break the silence that often surrounds their experience,” the website states.
Other workshops offered by the university include Bystander Intervention, Support Skills and Healthy Relationships.
MORE: University offers students contradictory instructions on sexual consent
MORE: College contradicts its own ‘affirmative consent’ policy
IMAGE: vchal / Shutterstock.com
Please join the conversation about our stories on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Reddit, MeWe, Rumble, Gab, Minds and Gettr.