UF will hold its bi-annual sexuality seminar at an earlier time this year.
“Yes Means Yes,” a free five-week seminar that discusses sex and consent in students’ relationships, will be held at noon instead of during evenings so more students can attend, said Carolyn Cesarotti, a founder and student facilitator of the seminar. Cesarotti helped create the seminar, which starts Wednesday, after four attempted assaults were reported on campus in Fall 2014.
“In Spring semester there are a ton of programs in the evenings, so we kind of decided we were going to try this instead,” she said.
Cesarotti said the seminar aims to get students talking about sexuality in a positive and open way. Up to 35 students can register.
Each Wednesday, students will discuss a different topic, said Madeleine Hill, a student facilitator.
Different professors and community members will lead the discussion each week, said Rita Lawrence, the interpersonal violence prevention coordinator at GatorWell.
Sergio Brenes, who participated in Spring 2015, said the seminar allows students to ask any question without judgment.
“‘Yes Means Yes’ for me was the definition of a safe space,” the UF history junior said. “No question was going to be ‘yucked.’”
The seminar made him feel more comfortable with his body, the 21-year-old said.
“The only thing I did not like was in my session we talked about straight sex most of the time; we never talked about queer sex,” Brenes said.
