On Saturday, Feb. 8 in the Jacobetti Center, the Student Equity and Engagement Center held an event called Condom Carnival. Students took part in interactive games that taught them about safe sex, consent and sexual health.
When students first walked into the doors of the Jacobetti Center, they were welcomed with excitement and received a stamp card. By participating in each interactive game, a student received a stamp on their card, which they could enter into a raffle when it was filled. The raffle’s prizes ranged from sex toys to safe sex items.
Meegan Smith, a graduate assistant at the Office of Diversity and Inclusion at Northern Michigan University, was in charge of one of the games that was in the form of a Kahoot quizzing students about safe sex.
“It is important to understand what goes into having safe sex, emotionally and physically,” Smith said. “That’s why we’re doing this, in order to teach everybody about what it means to wear condoms, what it means to give consent, what lubes you should be using, as well as intimacy and making sure you get STI screenings regularly if you’re having casual sex.”
Like everyone at the Condom Carnival, Smith advocated the need for understanding sexual education and ensuring safe and healthy relationships with those with whom you are intimate.
Not only were there interactive games, but there were also booths set up with professionals to provide students with information. Hannah Harriman, a public health nurse at the Marquette County Health Department, was one of them. At her booth, she provided free birth control, condoms, morning after pill and lubricants. She also gave out pamphlets that had information on other methods of birth control, suicide prevention and the services offered at the health department. Additionally, she informed students that they were doing free rapid HIV testing at the event.
“The supplies are provided by the state to get the word out about birth control,” Harriman said. “Information about birth control is great for college students because they might not know what’s available to them. We also want our community to know what the health department offers.”
