The controversy surrounding the cancellation of Bristol Palin’s speaking engagement at Washington University has opened a dialogue on campus about abstinence, a topic that many students feel has long been underrepresented.

Many students at the University who practice abstinence, especially those in faith-based groups, often feel like a forgotten presence within the campus sex culture, and have expressed relief and support for an increase in abstinence awareness.

“It’s sort of this silent, sizable group of students who are choosing abstinence,” said Father Gary Braun, director of the Catholic Student Center. “I feel like they might get overlooked, and they feel kind of embarrassed to speak out much about it to their peers, who are more vocal about their activity, the hookup side of things.”

Sophomore Carolyn Carpenter, a small group leader for Grace Presbyterian Fellowship, suggests that this reticence may be due to a different approach taken by many abstinent students, who view their sexual choices as personal, not necessarily something to promote or discuss at large.

“There aren’t many people speaking out for [abstinence] necessarily,” Carpenter said. “I think it’s underrepresented or under-realized because people who are abstinent are not advocating it for other people, or pushing their own decisions on them. It’s more of just like ‘This is what I’ve chosen to do.’”

But according to Nena Salazar, a leader in Overflow, another Christian fellowship on campus, surrounding oneself with a community of abstinent peers is both influential and important.

“I know it’s not just peer pressure to not [have sex], but it definitely helps that none of my friends do,” Salazar said. “During Sex Week, the focus definitely seems to be on the people who are having sex. Other than during Sex Week, I feel like everyone is like me, and then I realize that most people aren’t, and that most people are having sex.”

Although students who practice abstinence may feel like they are in the minority, they do not feel that the environment on campus is necessarily opposed to their individual choice.

“I don’t really see many people talk about [abstinence] or advocate it, but I wouldn’t say that if I told someone [that I practice abstinence] they’d be against it or hostile,” sophomore Chelsea Brown said.

What most students do notice is a highly prevalent and visible hookup culture on campus.

“It does seem like people are hooking up all the time,” Salazar said. “I feel like certain situations lend themselves more [to hooking up]. At Wash. U., when most people say ‘I’m going out,’ that means, ‘I’m going to the frats, and I’m going to hook up.’ I know that’s definitely the focus of most people’s hanging out on the weekends.”

The term “hooking up” is a phenomenon that continues to confound both adults and youth of this generation, with its range of multi-faceted and ambiguous connotations.

For those who choose to abstain from hooking up, it might seem like this choice is overshadowed or considered less legitimate by some of their fellow students. But according to Braun, the culture on campus might be shifting.

“I think many students are finding the hookup culture a little bit wanting. Some people are left more lonely hooking up than they would be were they not,” he said. “I think people are somehow looking for a way out, a way to date at Wash. U. and not hook up. That’s the bottom line question. There’s got to be a way.”

According to Scott Elman, president of the Student Health Advisory Committee (SHAC), the controversy surrounding Bristol Palin’s potential inclusion in an panel on abstinence has brought or returned abstinence to the attention of many students.

“In the weeks since the whole Palin controversy, I’ve been getting e-mails, both of hate, but also of support from certain students who do practice abstinence that are very happy that this is an issue we’re addressing that hasn’t been addressed before,” Elman said. “It’s beginning a conversation with people that do practice abstinence, feeling more comfortable saying that they do practice abstinence and forming groups of support among themselves for people that do feel underrepresented on campus.”

SHAC hosted a panel discussion about abstinence in Graham Chapel on Monday during Sexual Responsibility Week. While Elman was pleased with how the panel discussion went, he had hoped to see more students in attendance. Graham was filled to approximately 10 percent capacity.

“I would have liked for more people to have gone, to hear [the] opinions of both experts and people from campus ministries, because I think that’s how more of an informed conversation and dialogue have been started,” he said. “I am pleased that it is a topic that has, to some extent, made it to the forefront of issues on campus recently.”