BDSM at Iowa State Univ. -- State's Tax Dollars, Student Fees Hard at Work
by Jim Brown
November 13, 2003
(AgapePress) - Iowa State University is funding a student club that engages in sadomasochism.The student government at the Ames, Iowa-based university is being criticized for voting to fund a student club called "Cuffs" that teaches about bondage and other forms of sexual perversion. The club, according to its website, is a discussion group for "people who want to learn more about kink, fetish, BDSM, and other expressions of safe, consensual, and non-exploitative human sexuality." One of the club's more recent meetings was devoted to giving attendees details about "spanking, paddling, caning, and other forms of S&M [sadomasochism]."
Among those critical of the student government for funding such activities is senior Josh Reicks, who is chairman of the College Republicans group on campus. He says there are several reasons why Cuffs does not deserve to have the funding.
"Reason number one, obviously, is what the group is promoting -- and number two, they haven't even consistently shown that they'd have any use for the money," he says. "[And number three] by group guidelines ... they're more than likely just trying to prove a point, which would open up funding for groups of that type in the future."
He also places blame on the school's current administration, which he says likely did not even bat an eye over the Cuffs funding decision.
"I think it's their responsibility to certainly point out that this is not the type of club that needs funding from Iowa State University," he says, explaining that both the administration and the student affairs department have been under such heavy criticism of late. He says recent "anti-student" decisions by those entities have damaged relations with students "to the point that even if they did make a recommendation, the students would ignore them."
According to Reicks, the student government has a long history of treating conservatives unfairly, noting the College Republicans and campus religious clubs are denied funding. He says the funding decision has left most students on campus "incredulous."
