The Weekly Ringer

The University of Mary Washington Student Newspaper

Sexclamations: Sex in Public OK if the Coast is Clear

3 min read

BY KJ ADLER

What do Ball Circle, the Monroe and Jepson computer labs, the library tree houses, various locations in Trinkle, the old radio station, the elevators of Jefferson, Seacobeck, the gym lower basketball court, the Amphitheatre, the Kline theatre, DuPont hall, Chandler psych room, the roof of Combs, and the seminar rooms of Combs all have in common? I have met at least one student who has had sex in one these places.

After an inspirational conversation with a friend, I’ve been asking random people in class, at dinners, and at parties if they have ever done the naughty out of the privacy of their own rooms. To my astonishment nearly one out of three people I spoke with have gotten their groove on out in the open.

“This guy who I was sort of seeing and I were doing some extra work in Jepson,” one friend told me. “We were working for about an hour when we decided to take a break. It was kind of late and no one else was in the building. One thing led to another and before I knew it we were getting it on right there in the computer lab. I’m still shocked that I did it.”

Whenever I brought up the subject of sex out on campus, those who had committed the act would give me dirty little smiles and an elaborate story. I never imagined so many UMW students have had public sex on campus. Friends who I thought of as prudish pointed to places as we walked down campus walk and said, “yeah, did it there, and there, and there…”

I even learned a new term. An LBJ, or library blowjob, is a greatly sought after experience for many of the guys on campus. One simply goes up to one of the tree houses on the third floor and you’re in the clear.

“I’m still waiting for the right moment to ask my girlfriend if she’d be down for it,” a guy friend and sex-in-public virgin told me. “She’s been telling me she’s been wanting to kink it up in the bedroom.

What’s more kinky than getting rid of the bedroom itself?”
However, there are of course risks to “kinking it up.” For starters if you are going to have sex in public, there’s always the possibility of getting caught.

In an e-mail correspondence with University Campus Police Chief James Snipes, sex in public can be seen as either Indecent Exposure (intentional display of genitals in a public setting where others are present) or obscene sexual display (engaging in acts of masturbation when others are present in a public place).

Both offenses are Class 1 misdemeanors, which carry a maximum penalty of a $2,500 fine and/or 12 months in jail.  According to Snipes, such conduct is, on average, reported two to three times per year.

But despite the high risk and potential repercussions, students just can’t seem to keep their clothes on and their significant others at bay.
But where on earth does this crazy underground fad stem from? The answers ranged just as widely as the sex locations on campus; it’s fun, you can live out a fantasy, the thrill of it, we were just in the moment, he/she wanted to, it’s been a dream of mine.

“I think that it’s like a rush. When people walk by that area it’s like a dirty secret,” another friend said, who has had sex in three different locations on campus, two of which were outdoors.

So what do I say? If no one’s around it’s technically not a misdemeanor. And honestly, how many people do you really think want to see your naked butt tumbling around with someone else when all they’re trying to do is find a book in the library or get to class? I say thee nay.

So yeah, it could be fun and definitely a rush. Just please, please try to make sure the coast is clear. And if you’re with someone who prefers to do it when the coast isn’t clear, then that’s what we call an exhibitionist, which is bad news on a college campus.