Public sex and indecency at SIU and other college campuses

Public sex encouraged, suggestions welcome in DE newsroom

Although the “free love” movement of the late 1960s and early 1970s culminated at Woodstock and ended with the rise of HIV and AIDS, the practice of public sex and indecency on college campuses remains alive and well.

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Even with the increased awareness for sexually transmitted diseases, some students still get a rush from performing the act of love where others may see them in all their glory.

Many universities even have locations that hold a mythical legend, daring students to follow in the footsteps of those before them. It could be a football stadium’s 50-yard line, or for others, perhaps a historical monument or landmark.

Either way, public sex has changed very little in the past three decades. According to www.sexinpublic.org, a parked car is still the most popular public location for college couples to perform sex acts.

While parked cars remain the number-one hot spot on campuses, the library has quietly become a haven for indecent acts.

SIU has not been immune to the trend either, as evidenced by a string of public indecency arrests at Morris Library in the spring of 2000 and 2001. It should be noted, however, each of the offenders were arrested for masturbation and not intercourse.

Some students see no problem with public sex acts, as long as they aren’t witness to it. Jonathan Smith, a freshman in education from Springfield, said it doesn’t bother him as long as people are sensible about it.

“As long as it isn’t on the front steps of the library or the clock tower I really don’t care where people do their thing,” Smith said.

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Libraries at other school’s libraries have been for more than a decade. According to a 1992 survey published in “Esquire,” out of 1,000 college students surveyed, 10 percent said they had committed a lewd act in their school’s library.

While libraries have emerged as the new college sex site of choice, many other locations are also notorious for housing indecent acts. Other popular spots include bathroom stalls, swimming pools, patios and balconies.

Some SIU students, who declined to give their names, said they had even experimented with the rooftops of small buildings, park benches and movie theaters.

Psychologists at the University of Santa Barbara reportedly said there are many motivating factors behind public sex, such as space, urgency, bragging rights, legend, variety and the desire to do something naughty. For some college students, public sex seems more private than most conventional places.

James Morrow, an undecided freshman from Champaign said that dorms are often the kiss of death to a young college student’s raging hormones.

“It’s so hard to find time alone with someone in a dorm, so I can see why people would look for any available place,” Morrow said. “I don’t think I would choose the library though, it’s way too quiet,”

Whether or not possible witnesses accept public sex, Illinois law and the SIUC student conduct code both frown upon it.

According to Illinois law, public indecency is listed as a Class A misdemeanor and a person arrested for it three times commits a Class 4 felony, which carries a possibility penalty of one-to-three years in jail.

The SIU student conduct code classifies public indecency as an act of social misconduct that could result in an informal hearing and/or a sanction.