Three blindfolded students raced to open condoms and place them on plastic model penises while others guessed how many condoms were in a jar Wednesday.
Sex on the Lawn takes place annually on the North Lawn under a large white tent. Sponsored by VOX, the student Voices for Planned Parenthood, the event provided students with information regarding birth control methods, STD and HIV testing, and free condoms.
Free HIV testing took place in the Reitz Union basement.
“It’s our way to disseminate knowledge about safe sexual health practices in a way that’s fun and comfortable, nonjudgmental, open and safe-sex positive,” said VOX president Rocio Lopez.
Students got free pizza, Subway and baked goods for participating in a variety of activities, such as the blind-folded condom race and a trivia game.
Kristen Waylen, director of education for Planned Parenthood, drove from Jacksonville to be the event’s “sexpert.”
“Students are mainly asking about birth control and HIV,” Waylen said. “There’s a lot of misinformation out there about sex.”
Students from the Pro-Life Alliance peacefully protested nearby, holding up signs that described a fetus’s development throughout pregnancy.
According to Patricia Aguerrevere, co-president of the alliance, the students were not protesting the message of the event, but rather the company sponsoring it.
Planned Parenthood is the No. 1 provider of abortions and abortion services in the United States. However, those services make up only three percent of Planned Parenthood’s services.
