A BDSM Sex Club At Harvard? Yep, And They're Not The First

See what some Ivy League students are getting tied up with in their spare time.

By Alexandra Churchill — Written on Dec 03, 2012

What comes to mind when you think of Harvard students? Impeccable grades? A quaint campus in Boston? What about kinky, Fifty Shades of Grey-style sex in handcuffs?

Meet Harvard's newest student organization: Harvard College Munch, a sex club. Dubbed by its 30 college-aged members as "Harvard College Munch," promotes "a positive and accurate understanding of alternative sexualities and kink on campus, as well as to create a space where college-age adults may reach out to their peers and feel accepted in their own sexuality." As a group, they meet weekly to talk about all matters related to BDSM (the acronym for bondage, discipline, sadism and masochism). The prestigious university granted the controversial student club official school recognition last week, according to Harvard’s student newspaper The Crimson. The report goes on to say that as a school recognized club, the students can now apply for university funding and promote their group on school property.

If you thought that this was unprecedented at institutions of higher learning, you might be surprised to hear that several other Ivy League schools already have these kind of groups in place. As a matter of fact, Columbia, Tufts, MIT and Yale all have BDSM groups.

"The impact on campus will be that students who feel outside of the sexual mainstream will now have a safe space to talk about their interests, to feel socially validated, and to build a community," said Dr. Justin Lehmiller, Harvard psychology lecturer and a sex columnist, to ABC News.

I happen to agree with Dr. Lehmiller. I think we can all agree that sexual preferences are a private matter. It's important for students to be able explore their sexualities with a community that is interested exploring those same interests.

A big part of this story's hype is undoubtedly the Harvard connection. If a community college or even a less-than-high-ranking state school were to recognize a sex club on its campus, I'm willing to bet that the story would not get the same coverage as seen at Harvard, Yale, or MIT. Maybe this sex club will break help break down the taboo surrounding open discussion about sex and sexuality.

What do you think of sex clubs at colleges: smart or smut?