Sexual Health & Spirituality Chapels offer open discussions on often taboo topics

Sexual Health & Spirituality Chapels offer open discussions on often taboo topics

Lipscomb University held three sessions on sexual health and spirituality during the first few weeks of the 2019 spring semester. This two-part article recaps the last two sessions. Charissa Ricker covered the second session, and Carly Reams covered the third. Second session Lipscomb held a panel discussion on Jan. 24 during a breakout chapel to address students’ questions about sexual health and spirituality. After a campus-wide survey about sexual health was sent out last semester, the Student Health Advisory Committee introduced a series on sexual health. Director of Health Services Erin Keckley spent the first session discussing the results of the survey. The second session panel consisted of Keckley, Kathy Hargis (director of Risk Management and Title IX), Pieter Valk (counselor), Josh Roberts (dean of Student Development) and Prentice Ashford (dean of Office of Intercultural Development). Students were able to submit questions anonymously for the panel to answer ranging from the different health services on campus to Lipscomb’s policies on sexual health. “We believe that if you read the Bible, and you read Christ’s teachings, that sexuality is designed for the context of marriage,” Roberts said. “And so for that reason our policies expect that students who are not married refrain from sexual activity.” The Health Center, the Counseling Center and the Title IX office are three places students can get help on-campus without having to worry about the consequences of Lipscomb’s policies. Roberts stressed the complete confidentiality between those offices and the code of conduct and the disciplinary office. Title IX and the amnesty clause were explained deeper by Hargis, who shared how students who have broken Lipscomb’s...