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Northwestern University Apologizes for Live Sex Show in Classroom
By Susan Brinkmann, OCDS
Staff Journalist
Pressure and outrage from alumni and other supporters has forced administratos at Northwestern University to reverse themselves and condemn a live demonstration of sex that occurred in a "human sexuality" class on Feb. 21 on their Evanston, Illinois campus.
The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) is reporting that Northwestern president Morton Schapiro has issued a statement claiming to be "disturbed" by what took place in a class room recently when a professor staged a live demonstration of sex involving a man, a woman and an "electric-powered device."
The incident was staged by Prof. John Michael Bailey who invited the students in his human sexuality class to stay after class for an extracurricular demonstration that he warned would be "explicit and graphic." Of the 567 students in the class, 100 took him up on it and attended the event.
Part of the demonstration involved a lecture on unconventional sex by Ken Melvoin-Berg who is co-owner of Wierd Chicago Tours. The business features sex tours of Chicago, visits red-light districts, crimes scenes and other odd venues. In an interview, Melvoin-Berg said he receives about $300 to $500 from Northwestern for appearing as a sex expert and said the couple who performed during last week's class, Jim Marcus and Faith Kroll, "are friends of mine who have assisted me before in demonstrations."
The demonstration featured a naked Kroll being stimulated with a sex toy.
The controversy started almost immediately, which prompted Bailey to publicly defend the demonstration, calling it "educational about sexual diversity."
Bailey regularly features these after-class sessions, some of which have involved homosexuals, swingers, and even a panel of sex offenders.
"The students find the events to be quite valuable, typically, because engaging real people in conversation provides useful examples and extensions of concepts students learn about in traditional academic ways," Bailey said in a written statement.
At first, the university supported Bailey. "The university supports the efforts of its faculty to further the advancement of knowledge," a Northwestern spokesman said earlier this week. "Northwestern University faculty members engage in teaching and research on a wide variety of topics, some of them controversial."
But an outcry from alumni and other university supporters prompted Northwestern to change its position.
"Although the incident took place in an after-class session that students were not required to attend and students were advised in advance, several times, of the explicit nature of the activity, I feel it represented extremely poor judgment on the part of our faculty member," said University President Morton Schapiro in a statement. "I simply do not believe this was appropriate, necessary or in keeping with Northwestern University's academic mission."
The University has promised to conduct an investigation.
Meanwhile, an award winning author and clinician at the university, Robin Mathy, notified the campus newspaper last night that she intends to file a formal complaint against Prof. Bailey and the university's psychology department for what she calls "a gross violation" of the American Psychological Association (APA) Code of Ethics.
Mathy told the paper she believes Bailey defied the governing body's ethical guidelines by potentially exposing minors to a public sex act and knowingly inflicting psychological damage on students.
"I really predict this is going to result in the de-accreditation of the psychology department," Mathy said. "The APA can't just tolerate someone who engages in this prurient behavior."
She said Bailey's public exhibition "speaks to a voyeuristic excitement" and is not a legitimate form of sexual education.
While Bailey is not an APA member, Mathy says the psychology department is accredited by the APA and will be held accountable for the incident.
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