DURHAM, N.C.—A religious leader at Duke University is not happy that female students are being invited to parties designed to have them talk about and purchase sex toys.
"I think it can give the impression that the university is endorsing behavior that I don't think the university should endorse," Father Joe Vetter, director of the Duke Catholic Center, told the News & Observer newspaper. "I don't think that's the intention of the university, but I think it can be perceived that way."
A behavioral economist and student health workers are conducting the study, which includes Tupperware-style parties featuring sex toys. Various female students are being invited to the parties, though it is not mandatory for any of them to attend.
Dan Ariely, the James B. Duke professor of behavioral economics in the Fuqua School of Business, is leading the study, but declined to discuss the purpose of the research with reporters, saying it could taint the results.
Vetter told the paper he believes the study is a response to concerns about sexually transmitted diseases and promiscuous behavior on college campuses.
Duke officials recently pulled an ad promoting the study and recruiting volunteers from the university website. According to the ad, participants would fill out an initial questionnaire about sexual attitudes and behavior and then attend a one-hour "sex toy party" where they could discuss the devices with each other and buy them at discounted rates. Two months after the party, they would have to fill out a second questionnaire online.
Vetter told reporters he believes the study’s “academic” approach doesn’t give students the real educational tools they need.
"It's not fostering relationships, and it seems to me that one of the things that we want young people to do is to figure out how to have deep, intimate friendships and relationships," he said. "I would draw the line at a different place. I don't think that it's a good idea.”
