Reflections on Harvard's Sex Week

Contributed by Richard Y. Rodgers

Photo by Marek Studzinski on Unsplash

In the once-hallowed halls of Harvard University, we were confronted with a disappointing spectacle: the 12th annual event known as Sex Week. It was disheartening to see a purportedly educational initiative promoting a culture that leans toward excess and encourages an unsettling disregard for the traditional virtues of intimacy and self-respect. The discussions that unfolded during Sex Week—a week filled with explicit explorations of disordered, harmful sexual acts that blurred the line between intimacy and perversion—signaled a capitulation to the basest instincts of human nature. Such a trivialization of intimacy, reducing human relationships to mere fodder for casual discussion and even more casual action, reveals a disquieting loss of respect for the sanctity of human sexuality. Harvard's mere permission, if not tacit celebration, exemplifies a troubling cultural shift that reduces the sacred act of intimacy to transient pleasure, undermining the God-given purpose of human connection. This movement not only detaches sex from its foundational role in society but also leaves participants adrift in a cycle of indulgence and despair, highlighting a crisis of meaning exacerbated by modernity's abandonment of traditional moral anchors. To restore the integrity of our communities, we must reject this devaluation of love and intimacy and advocate for a renewed commitment to virtue, purpose, and the enduring values that sustain human dignity and flourishing.

​​At its core, Sex Week capitalizes on a deeper tragedy: the separation of the physical act of sex from its God-given purpose. At its most sacred, the union between man and woman is a covenant, set apart by natural law and informed by the wisdom of the ages. This bond is the foundation of society itself, through which new life is brought forth and nurtured, grounded in the responsibilities and joys of raising future generations. When society reduces sex to mere satisfaction or entertainment, it fractures the profound union through which two become one flesh and severs it from its spiritual reality and higher calling. This shift not only erodes our sense of self and appreciation for the generative power of intimacy but also diminishes our worth and the ability to form meaningful relationships. By prioritizing gratification over connection, we isolate the body’s role from the mind and spirit, transforming what should be a lifelong bond into a fleeting encounter.

Beyond the sheer decadence of this week-long celebration of debauchery lies another concern: the unsettling reality that these individuals—our fellow students—are filling their lives with physical, sensual pleasure in a misguided attempt to escape the hollowness that modernity has left in its wake. They immerse themselves in fleeting experiences, trading genuine connection for ephemeral satisfaction. Worse still, many seem drawn to abuses and demeaning practices that are not only degrading but also indicative of a troubling obsession with self-punishment and a lack of self-respect. This misguided pursuit of pleasure may momentarily numb their existential fears, yet it ultimately leads them deeper into a chasm of despair. These fears stem from a profound sense of emptiness, a void created by the disconnection from meaning and purpose. As they chase momentary pleasures, they are haunted by the awareness that their lives lack lasting significance. With no higher purpose to anchor them, our generation feels adrift, unsure of who they are or why they exist. This dread only grows as the pleasures they seek prove ever more fleeting, never quite filling the emptiness they feel within. In this void, despair takes root, quietly eroding their sense of hope and identity, leaving them searching for solace in all the wrong places.

Let us recognize that this phenomenon is more than a superficial engagement with sexuality; it is a crisis manifesting in the lives of our fellow students. In their search for meaning, they abandon the richness of human connection for the superficiality of hedonistic pursuits. They fill their days—and nights—with empty experiences, yet return home to the gnawing realization that these activities do not fulfill the deepest longings of the heart. As they seek validation through increasingly extreme expressions of intimacy, they risk losing sight of their inherent worth, their capacity for love, and their divine purpose. In this reckless abandon, they find themselves adrift in a sea of self-indulgence, devoid of the anchors that, if they were truly raised at all, once grounded them in community, family, and faith. This tragic irony is that, in their pursuit of freedom from moral constraints, they willingly sever ties with the very essence of their being, denying themselves the object of highest freedom—the profound love that only a relationship with God offers. The God who longs to embrace them fully is pushed away, replaced instead by pleasures that only deepen their isolation.

As we reflect on the intellectual environment that should serve to elevate the mind and spirit, we are right to be struck by a deep sense of foreboding. Harvard, a place that should be cultivating moral citizen leaders, is instead coddling a generation that embraces disordered desires as if they were badges of honor. We risk producing a populace that is not only unmoored from the foundations of virtue but also incapable of discerning the difference between true intimacy and fleeting, physical gratification. Such a society is destined for moral decay—a sobering reality we must confront with urgency. When we lose sight of virtue, we lose the values that bind communities, leading to fractured relationships, a weakened sense of responsibility, and an eroded social fabric. This decay leaves us isolated, adrift, and ultimately more vulnerable to the discontent and instability that arise in the absence of shared moral grounding.

As this year’s Harvard Sex Week fades away—hopefully to never return—we must grapple with the ugly truth it exposes. The celebration of sexual disorder is not a private choice; it represents a collective failing that undermines our community’s moral foundation. We must summon the courage to reject this tide of immorality and renew our commitment to higher conduct. Only through a resolute stand against such excess can we hope to restore dignity to love and intimacy. Moreover, we must see through the hollow arguments of self-styled "progressives" who laud this descent into moral chaos as enlightened freedom. If freedom and autonomy is the end goal of liberalism, then it must be the kind rooted in respect for self and others. Instead, liberalism reveals itself to be little more than the idolization of self, unencumbered by any guiding virtues or sense of responsibility. Liberalism is not enlightenment; it is the very essence of degeneracy, an abandonment of the principles that have long guided civil society.

The legacy of an institution like Harvard is not measured solely by its academic achievements; it must account for its moral vision. It is imperative that we reorient ourselves toward truth and virtue, guiding each generation toward a future where knowledge and moral integrity walk hand in hand. Only then can we aspire to cultivate a society where the sanctity of the human experience is cherished rather than debased, where love is honored, and where the chaos of sexual libertinism is relegated to the annals of history. Let us strive to recover a vision of humanity that honors the transcendent dignity of the individual and recognizes that true freedom is found not in the pursuit of unbridled pleasure, but in the fulfillment of our divine purpose. Only by turning towards the eternal truths that govern human existence can we hope to restore meaning and order in a world so desperately in need of both.