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CHICAGO -- Northwestern University began to distance itself Thursday from a professor who allowed an explicit after-class demonstration involving a woman and a motorized sex toy.
Although the school initially defended the raunchy display as a legitimate teaching exercise, President Morton Schapiro later released a statement calling it "extremely poor judgment."
"I simply do not believe this was appropriate, necessary or in keeping with Northwestern University's academic mission," Schapiro said, noting that he had opened up an investigation into the incident.
"Many members of the Northern community are disturbed by what took place on our campus," he added. "So am I."
The display, which involved a naked 25-year-old woman and her fiance, took place for a course called "Human Sexuality."
Four members of Chicago's fetish community had been invited to speak and answer questions about "bondage, discipline, sadism and masochism," before being invited to demonstrate their sexual behavior, also known as BDSM.
"The demonstration, which included a woman who enjoyed providing a sexually explicit demonstration using a machine, surely counts as kinky, and hence, as relevant," Psychology Prof. John Michael Bailey said in a statement issued to FOXNews.com late Wednesday.
"Furthermore, earlier that day in my lecture I had talked about the attempts to silence sex research, and how this largely reflected sex negativity … I did not wish, and I do not wish, to surrender to sex negativity and fear."
Faith Kroll said she initially thought she would only be answering students' questions about sex before she and partner Jim Marcus, 45, joined the presentation on February 21. However, on the day she undressed and took part in the sex display, saying afterward she was not coerced by the teacher or students.
"The students seemed really intrigued," she said, according to the Chicago Sun-Times.
The university first supported Bailey and said students were not obliged to attend the session to be graded. A spokesman added that no complaint had been filed with the police.
Alan K. Cubbage, the vice president for university relations, said: "The university supports the efforts of its faculty to further the advancement of knowledge."
But junior Ellen Kourakos told The Daily Northwestern she found the demonstration to be a "little more explicit than expected."
Other students said they found the demonstration to be educational. For senior Nick Wilson, it helped promote a "sex-positive environment," he said.
Wilson said Bailey warned students no less than three times that the demonstration would be graphic and urged those who were not comfortable to leave.
"The remainder of the students who stayed did so voluntarily," Wilson said. "Also the majority of the students who remained were interested in getting a better view of the demonstration, not shying away from it."
Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2011/03/03...demonstration/
Read more: http://www.nypost.com/p/news/nationa...#ixzz1FZKOyF9K
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