CHICAGONorthwestern University reversed course on Thursday and condemned a live demonstration of sex in a classroom, after defending the act earlier in the week.
"Many members of the Northwestern community are disturbed by what took place on our campus," Northwestern President Morton Schapiro said in a statement. "So am I." He said the university was launching an investigation.
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Associated Press
Faith Kroll, left, and fiance Jim Marcus performed Feb. 21 before students in Illinois. Both are friends of Ken Melvoin-Berg, who gave a lecture on unconventional sex as a part of the demonstration.
Following a human sexuality class last week on Northwestern's Evanston, Ill., campus, Prof. John Michael Bailey invited students to stay for an extracurricular demonstration that he warned would be explicit and graphic. Of the 567 students enrolled in the class, about 100 stayed to watch a sexual act involving a woman, a man and an electric-powered device.
Also part of the demonstration was a lecture on unconventional sex by Ken Melvoin-Berg, a co-owner of a business called Weird Chicago Tours, which takes visitors to scenes of past sex crimes, among other places. The lecturer couldn't be immediately reached for comment.
In an interview, Mr. Melvoin-Berg said that he would receive a fee of between $300 and $500 from Northwestern for his guest appearance as a sex expert. He said that his company has been performing sex tours in Chicago for more than a decade, visiting historical red-light districts as well as current spots such as a transvestite shoe store. He said that the couple who performed during last week's class, Chicagoans Jim Marcus and Faith Kroll, "are friends of mine who have assisted me before in demonstrations."
Afterward, the campus newspaper published an article about the class, and Prof. Bailey issued a lengthy statement. While expressing regret for any trouble his decisions had caused his dean, Prof. Bailey said in the email that "thoughtful discussion of controversial topics is a cornerstone of learning."
Prof. Bailey, a tenured professor of psychology, said the live demonstration was part of a larger series of events he had arranged "at considerable investment of my time, for which I receive no compensation from Northwestern University."
He said past guests had included two convicted sex offenders, a transsexual entertainer and a panel of gay men speaking about their sex lives.
As the incident gained notoriety in the Chicago media, Northwestern University initially supported Prof. Bailey.
"The university supports the efforts of its faculty to further the advancement of knowledge," a Northwestern spokesman said earlier this week. "Northwestern University faculty members engage in teaching and research on a wide variety of topics, some of them controversial."
An outcry from alumni and other university supporters prompted Northwestern to change its stance.
"There are a substantial number of people expressing concern and unhappiness, including President Schapiro," Northwestern spokesman Alan Cubbage said Thursday.
Prof. Bailey couldn't be reached for comment. Mr. Cubbage declined to elaborate on the nature of the investigation that Mr. Schapiro launched.
