The annual Sex Health Week is quickly approaching, so Francis Benedict, reporter emeritus, is spotlighting the courageous work of the Tufts Sex Health Reps. SHR, as it is commonly known, provides students with critical resources and advocacy for all their sexual needs. Their Instagram page provides expert analysis and advice in pieces such as “The Art of Taking a Nude” and “Do You Suck Toes?” Their work also reduces stigma for kinks, sexual orientations, identities, and more. For instance, they recently held an event on “Destigmatizing: Semi-Bisexuality,” which describes a person who is bisexual but only toward one sex.
In the spirit of reducing stigma, SHR maintains one position on its e-board for a strictly abstinent individual who is not asexual, but rather driven by purity and “discipline over lust.” We asked them what other selection criteria there are to become a sex health rep: “Queer. Real queer. And if you’re straight, we’d better think you’re queer.”
Tuft SHR also advocates for sexual freedom, that is the ability to control their own bodies and make their sexual decisions regardless of judgement. However, a recent Tufts Daily poll with a rigorous sample size of 69 responses, found that the proportion of men who report having the option to engage in sex at Tufts has declined. SHR Vice President, Mike Hoochie, suggests that the men who want to have sex at Tufts should be more open to ambiamorous relationships. “Tufts women want to tell their fathers about the health-management consulting internship that their boyfriend has, while also having the romantic comfort of another woman who just ‘knows their anatomy better.’” They also pointed us to the Tilton 40-person polycule as the gold standard of relationships at Tufts.
Tufts SHR also makes sure to start recruiting early! Just last semester, on admitted students day, they hosted a “dildo ring toss” outside the Campus Center for future Jumbos to see what Jumbo really means. Upon seeing the phallic protrusions from the grass, one admitted student told us “I knew I was meant to be here.” Unfortunately, the dildo ring toss was cut short when one SHR tripped and fell onto one of the dildos “suspiciously intentionally.”
If you are interested in joining Tufts SHR, it’s tough. They declined to let our team join one of their weekly meetings in the campus center: “They are strictly closed-door.” When the meeting adjourned, the sex health reps left the room in a hot sweat, too out of breath to speak to our investigator. Just goes to show the rock-hard effort that they put into sexual wellness at Tufts!
Photo by Lindsey Quinn, February 16, 2026