“As St. Francis said, where there is hate f—, let there be love,” porn star Lance Hart declared, to the amusement of a crowd of students that filled Graham Chapel Friday evening. Hart and fellow adult film stars Tori Black and James Deen answered questions as a part of a Sex Week panel event, moderated [...]

Sasha Grey, former pornography star and current human being, will no longer be part of a Sex Week panel. According to the Student Health Advisory Committee, the student group hosting the panel, Grey is wary of continuing to be associated with the porn industry, even in the context of a speaking engagement. As disappointed as I am, I can’t really blame her.

While Sasha Grey is no longer slated to join a panel of current or former pornographic stars to headline Washington University’s upcoming sex week, the week’s organizers have signed or finalized contracts with three other adult entertainers. The remaining panelists, Tori Black, James Deen and Lance Hart, are scheduled to appear in Graham Chapel on Feb. 8.

Walking around campus it’s hard to miss the bright, blaring posters advertising “Sexual Responsibility Week” here at Wash. U. On one appears the silhouette of a woman wearing nothing but heels, her clearly visible nipples up at attention and her back arched to accentuate her rounded buttocks. Another poster shows the outline of a naked woman kneeling on the ground, her legs splayed wide. Each poster features a naked (or near-naked) woman in a provocative, sexual pose accompanied by a one-word headline: “Sex.” The suggestions are clear: a woman’s body (and maybe even a woman herself, since there are no male images or couples anywhere to be found on these distasteful posters) is nothing more than a sex symbol.

The proposed speaker that had Washington University students in an uproar for nearly two days is no longer scheduled to appear on campus. Bristol Palin, 20, was expected to be the keynote speaker at this year’s Sexual Responsibility Week. But her $20,000 price tag led students to contest Student Union Treasury’s funding decision, arguing that she is unqualified to speak about the subject of abstinence on a college campus.

Student outrage over Student Union Treasury’s decision to fund a panel featuring Bristol Palin for $20,000 was not assuaged by Wednesday’s SU Senate meeting.

Bristol Palin has been selected as keynote speaker for this year’s Sexual Responsibility Week at Washington University. Student Union Treasury approved a $20,000 appeal by the Student Health Advisory Committee (SHAC) to sponsor a four-person panel featuring Palin. The appeal was initially set at $25,000 and renegotiated. While Palin has not formally agreed to the appearance yet, she is expected to do so shortly.

The end of this week marks the completion of Washington University’s annual Sexual Responsibility Week, which traditionally falls during the week leading up to Valentine’s Day.