That last one sounds fake.

@2: It's not.

Ah suppressed sex...is there anything hotter? Well, suppressed gay sex, I guess!

At least the title lets you know exactly how boring the article is going to be.

My last Seattle home was just a couple of blocks from SPU. I believe they also ban alcohol consumption, even if the students are not only legal but off campus, but I saw plenty of SPU kids breaking that rule, too.

I believe the phrase is "let he who is without sin raise his right hand".

(or at least, that was Bill Maher's version of it, IIRC.)

masturbation in the prayer room? prolly left lots of SPU-j.

College students have sex? No wai!

Well I for one do a considerable amount of talking to myself with my pants off.

@6 me too! and neither did my partner

@4 - agreed.

I'm very sorry for you #15 and sorry for anyone experiencing idiocy in your presence as I know I can't count on you to speak out on injustice in the world. Respect for dumbness and unfairness?... sad state of affairs indeed.

As someone who graduated from SPU in 2008 I can verify all of the behaviors above. SPU is a campus full of liars, but it is not lying out of malice. It is lying out of fear. Over my 4 years there I saw multiple students excluded, removed from their majors and even asked to leave the school simply for sexual behavior. Everyone lies every day simply to make themselves fit inside of the SPU "bubble."

I wish they had these kind of stories from Northwest University across the lake...

class of 2007. Great profs, crazy sex deprived students. Thanks for inspiring me to rebel with lots of drugs and foursomes. Big thanks to Dan Savage for getting all of Third West Ashton hall using vibrators while the poor boys cried and jerk it into their monogrammed bibles.

"Methodists (at least the southern variety, which I have more experience with...) are much more well-balanced and usually have families."

A lot of sex offenders have families. The families are usually their first victims.

Nice try, though.

Kudos to the dude that got it on in Otto Miller. There's nothing sexy about that building.

Spicy pussy?

I really don't understand how the fuck that happened. Can someone produce a chart? Of the spiciness of pussy please.

SPU class of 2007, great education, great profs, really sexually repressed mindfucked students. Thanks spu for letting me rebel by drinking, smoking and fucking (including in the catwalks of the Chapman Theatre) into a degree. And special kudos to Dan Savage for getting all of Third West Ashton using vibrators!

I demand to know how the Stranger "reached out" to collect these stories. The last one especially reads like erotica. I hate religion as much as the next decent human being, but this is a goddam slow news week for the stranger

I remember during my Sophomore year my roommate was pretty adamant about not masturbating. One day I come home from class and our room in Hill Hall just reeked like cum (I'd know that smell anywhere). He could have had the decency to throw it down the garbage chute instead of just leaving the cum-soaked tissue on top of the already full trash can.

"STDs in the Chapel" guy, that was heartbreaking. The eating disorder comparison sounds about right. I hope things got better. Sounds like maybe they did?

Is this the riveting journalism that Eli Sanders went to school to learn: finding 10 disgruntled alumni who had sex while getting their education at one of the most presitgious schools in the Northwest? Slapping the SPU story on the front cover of your weekly is an example of why I believe The Stranger has become so irrelevent. No statistics, no interviews with administration, no counterpoint, no names for God sake (pardon the pun), and worste of all, no story! SPU graduates hundreds of students a year, sends people around the globe in the name of humanity and social justice, and you had to go back as far as a decade to find a few stories of repression that people weren't even willing to sign their name to. That doesn't seem like a scandle to me.

I rarely pick up this rag anymore and cover stories like this are the reason why your vulgarity can't mask the irrelevence of your subject matter.

ron van der veen

Is this the riveting journalism that Eli Sanders went to school to learn: finding 10 disgruntled alumni who had sex while getting their education at one of the most presitgious schools in the Northwest? Slapping the SPU story on the front cover of your weekly is an example of why I believe The Stranger has become so irrelevent. No statistics, no interviews with administration, no counterpoint, no names for God sake (pardon the pun), and worste of all, no story! SPU graduates hundreds of students a year, sends people around the globe in the name of humanity and social justice, and you had to go back as far as a decade to find a few stories of repression that people weren't even willing to sign their name to. That doesn't seem like a scandle to me.

I rarely pick up this rag anymore and cover stories like this are the reason why your vulgarity can't mask the irrelevence of your subject matter.

Wow, I'm surprised at the number of offended people posting comments on this article.

You say, "SPU is a good school, I'm fine, what's the big deal, if you don't like the rules, don't attend."

I say, the title of this article is "Secret Sex Lives of SPU Students". Well, if you don't care about the secret sex lives of SPU students, if you're best buds with Jesus, if you're sitting on a holy, white, fluffy cloud far above all this vulgarity........................why did you read this article?

If you don't like sex, If you don't like The Stranger, if you don't like to hear about conflicted Christian kids breaking rules, don't read about it!

The purpose of Eli's article is obvious, and it's not (primarily) erotic. It's to press the case against certain religious doctrines about sexual self-repression. This is not all christians, or only christians, God knows (lol, right) that many muslims, jews and even hindus have great repressive beliefs about sexuality. But Eli's just poking at these doctrines with a stick. If you don't like it, don't read about it.

The BayGuardian did article in the 80's on USF, a catholic university run by Jesuits. It accused USF of turning back the clock to the 1550's, sexual repression and exclusivity. As an alumni, yes, it's all still there. Good to see SPU students are normal.

As an ex-SPU student I don't think any of us are surprised this stuff is going on. Worthy of a headlining article on the Stramger? Come on. Just search any craigslist personal ad for SPU and you've got the same stories.

Kinda expect a little more quality journalism out of the Stranger taking on a Christian University

To a student nonr of this is surprising,

Always admired your journalistic skills, Eli, but this time I'm left scratching my head. Why? Why is this a cover article, and why was it written at all? The Stranger seems to be much more obsessed with SPU's policies than the average 19-yr-old at SPU... This I can say with a certain amount of knowledge on the subject, as I spent 5 years at that institution and have been reading this rag since its inception. Yes, I found the "Lifestyle Expectations" form an insult, even when I was extremely conservative, and believe it should be tossed out of the student contract. But rather than explore the reasoning behind the thing, including interviews with faculty and students, psychologists, etc, you chose to put together a piece of fluff that mostly reads like some really bad erotica. I'm pissed at you, Eli... you dropped the ball on a great opportunity to explore a legitimate issue, one that might actually have some RELEVANCE to readers instead of the cheesy, half-assed wank-bank deposit that it ended up being.

Eh, for those above assuming that all the anecdotes are from people who hated SPU, they're not. Maybe some are, but I wrote one, and a friend wrote another. We both originally wrote that the regulations prompted intense discussions that helped students actually think about sex/gender politics, rather than just seeing them in some sort of black & white binary sense of sin and purity. We were actually hoping that it *would* be a thoughtful piece, including interviews, research, and commentary, that, as kazos says, might have actually been relevant, instead of just cheesy.

Those parts of our narratives? Are what the Stranger cut out. I suppose it was silly of us to have thought they were looking for anything other than erotica linked with Christianity in some way.

A fun drunken libinious night was had by me with an SPU basketball player after meeting at the Red Door in Fremont. At least I wasn't having to deal with any sort of issues related to a behavior code as a non-SPU student. About ten years before that fun romp, I did go to a college like SPU. The guilt, shame and secrecy which caused rampant hypocrisy and outward expressions of self-righteousness were very real. Evangelical educational institutions are simply reflective of Evangelical Christian churches. Their leaders fuck around and then cry on national tv when they get caught. I think god really is more interested in whether or not his followers are kind, gracious, generous and patient than she/he is with the whole sex and gender identification thing. But, it seems someone in our society has to ride the moral high horse. Too bad for the saddle sores. Relax. It's sex, not aggravated assault or bank robbery. SPU and Christians need to learn to pick their battles.

The Seattle Stranger's recent expose on Seattle Pacific University student sex life (http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/the-s… ) is yet another pathetic Stranger hatchet job, a typical example of his rag’s journalistic blindsiding.

I graduated from the SPU, and I’ve attended there off and on since 1985. I've also penned articles in Seattle and Spokane's gay community rags for over two decades. Regardless of the Stranger's perspective, SPU as a school is a warm and welcoming place and like the rest of society, it continues to evolve. Not because of crap exposes like this but because of the committed gay Christians who attend there and confront dying prejudice.

I graduated from SPU with an under grad degree and now in July, will graduate with a Masters. I am out in my current program and was also in my undergrad degree. Not a student among my program is/was unaware of my sexual orientation. But for many of them, I am the only openly gay person they've met. People change perspectives when they actually met someone who contradicts all that their pastors, congregations, and familys have taught them.

As for all the closeted types who participated in interviewing for the story, regardless of sexual orientation you truly suck---You lack balls. How brave of you to mock a place you cowered in and never risked anything to change.

The Stranger is great at unveiling hypocrisy---and mocking earnest people---using the very same bullying tactics the Stanger condemns.
This vitriol is no better than that of God Hate’s Fags, Reverend Fred Phelps. Too bad you didn't seek out another view---that of students who are ok with their sexuality---in all its beauty, and who remain committed to attending a school that acknowledges their faith. Sure it is far more difficult to reside in doctrinal crossfire, and try to bridge two continents--- that thanks to The Stranger and Phelps always seem to be moving apart.

Indeed, with this kind of article, “It’s not getting better”, at least when The Stranger comes to town---as this only polarizes each camp, mocks people's belief systems---which last time I checked, was still a constitutional right---and makes those of us working toward change that much more alienated from both.

Ironic that the stranger and its managing editor Dan Savage, each deomonstrate rich traditions of intolerance and bullying in their backgrounds and are no "stranger" to acidic hypocrisy.

As far as which is “better”, I've voted, and SPU wins. Regardless of whom you love.

Ahh, I love the contradiction of terms going on here... although I think I'm more entertained by the rage that some of these folks commenting on the article are displaying.

Truth be told, I'm a neighbor (non-student) to the University, living only a couple of blocks away. As the University knows, I have on two occasions spoken with their Security Office about issues arrising from their student body. Without going into actual details of the complaints, I'm willing to divulge that I've found a students backpack located in front of my house with a bag of marijuana in it, innumerable SPU employee cigarette butts litterred about, and of all things - used condoms! Yep, "used" condoms.

For me I've always found it interesting that SPU is a University that does not allow smoking on its campus but, admittedly asks their own employees to walk a couple of blocks away (into the 'residential neighborhood') to get their fix - hence my complaint about the cigarette butts. I guess my point here is that as a religious university, it doesn't seem to matter if it's gay sex, straight sex, or on campus smoking... there are certain truths in this world they would rather ignore. Unfortunately, to me I find the Adminstrations own apathy that which is most morally and ethically dangerous.

...Speaking of morals... OK, I suppose I'm not the most honorable person but, when the problem with the 'butts' did not subside I figured the least I could do was let my dog shit on the President of the Universities lawn and not pick it up. I mean it's not like I left it on his front porch or anything, I just figured if they aren't going to care, well then I'm not going to bother caring either.

In 1996 I went to SPU for a couple of quarters. I did not go to a church that was common to my floor mate's and was chastised and gossiped about when trying to talk too much about the bible....so the church I went to was widely considered a cult...just never mind that right now heh. Anyways, when I went to SPU and lived on 6th Ashton in 1996/1997 the kids on the 5th floor used to have "naked hours" after blocking off the exits (I witnessed it once and had previously thought it was a rumor). We didn't have that on the 6th floor, but our...er...I forget what it's called....like the RA but the floor minister....anyways, this dude used to put on a Spider-Man mask and run around the floor naked a couple times a week. Sometimes I would just be trying to unlock the door then notice something moving to the left of me and he would be jogging in place right next to me. We lived next to the lounge where one of our floor mates would be jamming his girlfriend with the door locked. On the other side of our room another floor mate, daily would be heavy petting his now wife with the door open for accountability reasons. When I saw article this morning, my face hurt from smiling on the way to work. Oh, and the previous year someone pooped in my roomate's chocolate milk.

Honestly, none of what The Stranger has posted is wrong. Ernest or not, the fact of the matter is that a) Other Christians consider that kind of behavior weird and b) clinically it is unhealthy to limit your communication in such a way that it will eventually cause roadblocks in your marriages or dating relationships (i.e. if you don't talk about sex your shit will be fucked up). SPU is a great school with many excellent programs, but if you are looking to further your relationship with God...the tuition is overpriced.

I'm not sure why anyone would have such high expectations for this article. It's supposed to be fun, sometimes poignant, press a point about SPU's culture from a publication that is hardly secret in its distaste for that culture - not some major award-worthy piece of reporting. The Stranger isn't known for big investigations other than the occasional sting like the pregnancy center article, something that a couple people can do without shuffling through dusty old archives for months.

funny, well-written article about hypocrisy at SPU. Enough with the gripes, people. You don't like it? Don't read it! I say well done, Eli.

I'm with gregp. Nice article Eli. Always fun to see how the students are way ahead of the curve. Good writing! Well done.

God, I wish my tenure at secular university had been this intensely passionate! :0

Given the incidents in the article, sounds like a high percentage of students @ SPU are gay. Interesting.

I'm a former SPU student and I have a few fun stories to add. My friends and I did a lot of debaucherous things some highlights include:
- Repeated sex in the Crawford Practice rooms.
- Sex in multiple dorms and on campus apartments.
- Breaking school on campus drinking codes on a daily basis.
- Getting blown while driving through campus (right in front of Safety and Security)
- I even know one couple that snuck into the music library for a blowjob.

But the best one of all was me and a buddy of mine started a contest to see who could jerk off in the most buildings on campus. By the end of the year I had done it done it in 12 buildings. My favorite times were when I did it immediately after leaving midterms (biology and theology) and one time I stepped out of a bible class, jerked off in the bathroom and immediately when i sat back down was asked to read a portion of scripture.

Another great thing I did was discover that I could have free samples of Trojan condoms delivered to friends that lived in the dorms. Best part, they came in big envelopes that they had to go down to the mailroom and sign for.

Check out first emerson if you want a good story.

As a recovering SPU '07 alum, I laughed out loud when I saw this Stranger's cover. I'm still working through anger from years of Christian sexual repression. SPU/s sex policies rooted in fear and attempts to control only harm itself. Yet this is coming from an institution where its President [Eaton] sent an email to the entire community in Spring '06 calling females the "weaker" sex. I was outraged! And when I voiced my concerns to those around me--I encountered indifference. SPU as a community is incapable of respecting diversity [be it sexual, gender, ethnic, political, religious, etc.] while those in power continue to degrade/disrespect entire groups of human beings.

It sure wasn't safe for me to come out at SPU. Instead, I got a "ring by Spring" & married a male--going through the whole traditional Christian ceremony a few months after graduation. It was a short marriage--something didn't feel right. It wasn't until after the divorce that... wham! The realization finally rose to my consciousness like a breath of fresh air: I'm attracted to women, I'm queer. Coming out was freeing and joyful. I love being connected to more of my authentic self.

It saddens me to think that the "SPU community" [via it's policies] looks at who I am, and all others who don't fit into a heterosexual box, as sinners. I can only wonder how these judgements affected other students and faculty, past & present. To all those with a relation to SPU who don't fit into a monogamous heterosexual box, let's get together sometime to congratulate one another on our courage & strength! ;)

THe tone of this article is quite 'ha ha, right on, those crazy kids aren't letting The Man get them down'.

But I saw a lot of them as more 'we like judging other people, but we don't let that stop us being revolting hypocrites.'

hi guys
i'm international student ,i'm planing to study at seattle pacific university
i need some information about SPU ,and what do u think about it is a good university or not ???

Thanks
Abdullah

This is disgusting. Of course SPU kids have sex, THEY ARE HUMAN BEINGS. Who gives a shit where they have it, or how they do it. Nobody wants to hear the disillusions of an attention starved college boy.
Why is The Stranger so obsessed with it?
Maybe you should learn how to actually run a newspaper, and start writing shit that is actually worth reading.
SPU is a great school with Christians, non Christians, Virgins, not Virgins. There is a policy put in place because this is a Christian university (made very clear all over the website/application), not because SPU wants to "sexually repress" people. You must think really highly of yourself to actually think that the rules at SPU are put in place just to cock block you. I am a sexual being, and I don't feel like I am scarred for life or have to go fuck in the prayer room because of some "policy" that is barely enforced. IF YOU REALLY HATE IT THAT MUCH THEN GO TO A DIFFERENT SCHOOL.

I'm sure there are kids fucking in the libraries at UW. Go write an article about that.
Assholes.

I attend SPU and will graduate next year. I have heard a lot of SPU students talking about this article and decided to check it out for myself.
Yes most of these stories are true and I have had a friend that had sex with a SPU worker's relative and that friend was forced to move to a different dorm! Yes I think SPU has archaic policies and thank God they finally changed their alcohol policies so that students 21 and over can now freely drink off campus without having to watch their backs. There are still floor hours which only permit visiting hours to opposite gender's floors from noon to 11pm. It really depends on your PA(RA) how strict these rules are followed but for the most part I got in trouble for many ridiculous things that legal adults should not have to try to hide.
SPU may have questionable policies and deal with some topics rather poorly but I have had a great education and would not choose a different school even if I had the chance.

@20 --

. . . I'm not sure these stories have anything to do with "reeeeeeeeeeeeeally want to have sex that bad [sic]." I feel a certain amount of disappointment with commenters such as yourself, and others who dismiss this article as 'boring,' and the like.

You've missed the point entirely.

Humans are one of very few (known) species on the planet evolved enough to experience pleasure during sex; humans are sexual creatures (see: the clitoris) -- whether black, white, gay, straight, christian, or atheist, your junk was given to you so that, yes, you can procreate (if that's what you're into), but also so you can have a damn good time doing it.

The fact that SPU bans all varieties of sexual activity in the school's official guidelines isn't just offensive and overbearing to those who disagree with the way SPU chooses to impose on the lifestyles of its student body, but is stifling to human nature itself. Wanting to have sex "that bad[ly]" has absolutely nothing to do with it.

@20 --

. . . I'm not sure these stories have anything to do with "reeeeeeeeeeeeeally want to have sex that bad [sic]." I feel a certain amount of disappointment with commenters such as yourself, and others who dismiss this article as 'boring,' and the like.

You've missed the point entirely.

Humans are one of very few (known) species on the planet evolved enough to experience pleasure during sex; humans are sexual creatures (see: the clitoris) -- whether black, white, gay, straight, christian, or atheist, your junk was given to you so that, yes, you can procreate (if that's what you're into), but also so you can have a damn good time doing it.

The fact that SPU bans all varieties of sexual activity in the school's official guidelines isn't just offensive and overbearing to those who disagree with the way SPU chooses to impose on the lifestyles of its student body, but is stifling to human nature itself. Wanting to have sex "that bad[ly]" has absolutely nothing to do with it.

As a former student, I'd like to say that while I think the university ought to be more open about this subject, it really starts with the men or lack thereof on the campus. Chivalry is only dead as long as jerk-offs who can't keep it in their pants aren't. If you're a guy committing to uphold certain standards of respect toward women at the university, you've got to be tough and control yourself. Put their self esteem above your own gratification. Sure, jerk it if you need to. But don't go fooling around with a girl's sexuality just because you're on the same campus for the next four years. If you're not willing to stick with her through thick and thin as a life partner, then don't touch her because she is likely someone else's. In my experience, there are a couple guys out there who have a face-full of fist coming due to the hurt they've caused if I ever cross paths with them again. So man-up, fellas. Earn your sex. Nice guys don't "finish last", they hold out for the good stuff.

Have sex with fun but safe and secure.

The tone here against SPU is kind of like obnoxious kids up to mischief on the playground and ridiculing those who won't join in. Apparently the fact that there are people who actually attempt to control themselves makes you feel a little guilty, eh?

That some students who choose to attend a Christian university have difficulty honoring the code of conduct is nothing new (self-control is never easy, even among those who seek to exercise it). And that the Stranger thinks it's newsworthy is laughable. The fact that some of the students fail to live up to the oaths they have signed (or never intended to honor them in the first place) no more invalidates the SPU policy than the fact that some people exceed the speed limit invalidates having speed limits.