Outside room 106 of Wilson Hall at the University of Connecticut, a table covered in Valentine’s Day cardmaking supplies, free candy and woven baskets filled with condoms sits beside an open doorway.
Just one step inside the brightly colored room reveals walls covered in statistics about sexual health, shelves packed with storage containers of condoms and crocheted penises.
“I like to crochet,” said Cassy Setzler, the program manager for sexual health and peer education initiatives at UConn.
Setzler oversees the UConn Sexperts, a group of student health educators. A part of UConn Student Health and Wellness, they hold one-on-one meetings, drop-in hours, sex education events and help with other services such as sexually transmitted infection testing and condom delivery.
Setzler, who graduated from both UConn and UConn Health and was a Sexpert during her time as a student, said that mission of the Sexperts is to provide UConn students with education, resources and opportunities to have open and honest conversations about sex and sexuality so they feel comfortable and empowered to make informed decisions regarding sex.
“Everyone’s coming in with different levels of understanding,” Setzler said. “We just assume that when students are 18, they should know everything about sex when the reality is this is the time to learn.”
Sugita Mahendarkar is one of those peer educators. A fifth-semester physiology and neurobiology student, Mahendarkar is in her fourth semester as a Sexpert.
“I thought that this would be a good opportunity to become more informed and explore this area and see what I thought of it and if I liked it,” Mahendarkar said. “So I applied, and I really like being a Sexpert. I really like telling people about their health and how they can be healthy on campus.”
Mahendarkar said that destigmatizing sexual health and helping students feel empowered are amongst the most important aspects of her role.
“Through this job, I’ve kind of been able to destigmatize this area of health and understand that a person’s sexual health can really affect their well-being, especially if they don’t necessarily know how to engage with sexual health in a safe or comfortable manner,” Mahendarkar said.
Through both outreach programs and events, the group attempts to make sexual education more accessible to UConn students.
The group has multiple signature events throughout the year. These include UCondom-a-thon, an event held around World AIDS Day on Dec. 1 that teaches safe sex skills at Late Night at the Student Union while giving out free ice cream, and the annual Sexual Health and Wellness Fair.
They also have a Kahoot! titled the “Sexual Health Showdown,” which Setzler said is presented at least 20 times per semester to organizations such as fraternities and sororities.
They have partnered with other organizations as well, such as with the UConn Student Union Board of Governors for Sex Education Bingo. Students could win sex toys, among other prizes donated by the board.
“Some people could be really shy, so we understand that […] even if they want to go to an event, they might not feel entirely comfortable going and we get that,” Setzler said. “We try to make it accessible for people and relax[ed] so that people aren’t intimidated.”
With Valentine’s Day approaching, they have also seen an uptick in one of their other services: “gloveBOX.” Setzler says that students are provided with 20 different types of condoms for free in a surprise box delivered to their residence hall or picked up at the Sexperts’ office. There are different types of boxes to fit differing needs.
Setzler pointed out that, in addition to Valentine’s Day, Saturday also marks National Condom Day. She added that there are chocolate strawberry flavored condoms for the holiday.
“It is a big week for people because we get a lot of condom orders this week and stuff because people want Valentine’s Day to be special,” Setzler said. “We do some of our more special events this week instead of our more run-of-mill one-on-one programs.”
Some of those events, such as the “Good Vibrations Pleasure Pop Up Workshop” where Sexperts explain how to use sex toys and safety tips, are more focused on sexual health. Others, like the Valentine’s Day card making station outside of their office, celebrate less-sexual aspects of the holiday.
“We also remind people that you don’t have to have sex on Valentine’s Day,” Setzler said. “Valentine’s Day is the day to love yourself, love your friends, love your family. It’s not just about romantic love.”
Both Setzler and Mahendarkar understand that students can be hesitant to engage with their office and events for differing reasons, and both emphasized the effort put into ensuring events are safe, comfortable and accessible spaces.
“We know that when people laugh, it’s because they’re uncomfortable and they don’t know what to do, right?” Setzler said. “They might be curious, but they don’t know how to express that. Or they’re with their friends and they’re like, ‘oh, if I stop at this table, what will my friends think?’ And, if people laugh and walk by, that’s okay. We’ll get them next time.”
Mahendarkar added that some of the people who laugh will sometimes double back and return with questions such as how to use a certain type of condom after overcoming the initial awkwardness they may be feeling.
“We embrace awkwardness, I think, because, yeah, sex can be awkward,” Setzler said. “And that’s part of the beauty of it. So we just try not to shame anyone. If they do feel uncomfortable, we’ll meet people where they’re at.”