Valentine’s Day was a week-long affair on the Homewood Campus with conversation hearts, condom-grams and romantic Pandora stations ubiquitous. Beginning with a love-themed Sterling Brunch on Sunday and culminating in a second snow day on Friday, the Valentine’s Day activities were a welcome distraction from school for many students.
The week’s Valentine’s Day festivities were dominated by Sexual Health Awareness and Guidance (SHAG) Week events, co-sponsored by the Center for Health Education and Wellness (CHEW) and The HOP. SHAG Week consisted of a collection of events designed to bring sexual awareness to the Hopkins community in a fun and comfortable way.
SHAG Week’s organizers were generally pleased with how the week went, noting that attendance numbers ran between 40 and 70 at each event.
SHAG Week kicked off on Feb. 11 in the Sherwood Room in Levering Hall where students decorated cookies, Valentine’s Day cards and condom-grams. Tuesday night’s SHAG Week events took place in Nolan’s on 33rd where the Department of Housing and Dining Services sponsored oyster shucking lessons. This was then followed by Sex Trivia, organized by Preventative Education and Empowerment for Peers (PEEPs), a student group within CHEW.
On Wednesday night, Sexologist Dr. Jill McDevitt joined The HOP and CHEW for a talk entitled “Sex: Am I Normal?” During the program, attendees were prompted to anonymously send in questions and comments regarding their sexual habits from their cell phones. PEEPs member Stephanie Cabral reported that upwards of 50 people attended.
“You’ve never seen a conversation like one in which everyone is anonymously asking sex questions and sharing sex confessions,” McDevitt posted on the event’s Facebook page.
“Dr. Jill’s talk was indeed a truly unique experience! I was very pleased with her performance. The attendees were very engaged — it was shown on the screen how many students answered each question, which was close to 50 every time,” Cabral wrote in an email to The News-Letter.
Cabral was also enthusiastic about the content of the discussion.
“For questions that were personal and sometimes embarrassing (‘Have you ever had a one night stand?’ or ‘How many sexual partners have you had in the past two weeks?’), the method of anonymous text submission was both plausible and efficient. Also, students were able to send in responses to open-response questions, such as ‘How do you know if you like someone?,’ which was both helpful and hilarious,” he wrote.
Thursday presented Hopkins with its first snow day of the spring semester, which was a cause for conflict for most of the events planned for the day. SHAG Week’s SHAGfest has been rescheduled for this Thursday and will feature free STI testing, “sexy food,” music, giveaways and other exciting activities.
“I still do anticipate it being a successful event, because who doesn’t want free stuff?” Cabral wrote.
Determined that the day should not go without a celebration, The HOP summoned the Hopkins community to the Beach, providing sleds, complimentary coffee and hot chocolate and speakers blasting the soundtrack to Disney’s Frozen. Hundreds of students could be found building snowmen, snowball fighting and enjoying their day off.
“The Snow Day event was so much fun; personally one of my favorite events to have put on throughout my years at Hopkins,” John Hunt, co-chair of The HOP, said.
Friday brought another snow day causing SHAG Week organizers to postpone its (Anti) Valentine’s Day party to this Friday. It will feature activities including “Make Your Own Chocolate Boxes,” “Heart Darts,” a photo booth, food, Valentine’s cards and gifts and more free giveaways.
“We were really excited about all we had planned and were a bit bummed about the snow. We think it worked out despite the weather and truly hope the students enjoyed it,” CHEW’s Health Educator Alanna Biblow wrote in an email to The News-Letter.
According to Biblow, preparation for SHAG Week began during the Fall semester.
“We’ve been hosting a SHAG-type Week for the past five years in some form but have definitely increased the number of events/activities we hold over the past few years. We were excited about the expansion of this year’s activities and offerings and hope to continue making it even bigger and better next year!” CHEW Associate Director Barbara Gwinn wrote in an email to The News-Letter.
Gwinn also emphasized the importance of sexual health education.
“With 15- to 24-year-olds accounting for 48 percent of newly diagnosed STIs, it is especially important for college students to be educated about safer sex practices. We wanted to make the week fun but educational at the same time,” Gwinn wrote.
Among the many Valentine’s Day-themed events last week was a Valentine sale by Circle K. The club sold candy grams and a cappella telegrams to benefit the Eliminate Project, which is a joint effort by Circle K and UNICEF to eliminate maternal and neonatal tetanus.
Many students took the holiday to simply relax and spend time with their friends.
“I had so much fun just hanging out with my friends. We baked pink cupcakes and then shared them all with our neighbors,” freshman Isabel Nair said.
“This Valentine’s Day was the perfect girls’ day,” she added.
