According to the Daily Northwestern, John Michael Bailey, a professor of psychology at Northwestern University for over 20 years, has come under fire for an explicit sexual demonstration that occurred at an optional post-lecture event. Bailey's class is known for being sexually explicit and for having optional post-class events in which the material discussed in class is further elaborated on by way of real-life examples. The events have included Q-and-A sessions with a swinging couple, transsexual performers, convicted sex offenders and others. The class on kinky sex and female ejaculation was followed by an hour-long Q-and-A session with an expert and his guest in which they used a sex toy to demonstrate female arousal for 5 to 10 minutes. The students were warned repeatedly that the event would be graphic and was not a required portion of the class.Since the event, local and national news organizations have picked up the story. Some students and faculty both inside and outside the Northwestern community have labeled the act as inappropriate with some calling for disciplinary measures against. Bailey. Northwestern University President Morton Shapiro even commented, "I am troubled and disappointed by what occurred. ... I feel it represented extremely poor judgment on the part of our faculty member." Bailey has since apologized numerous times for damaging the reputation of the school, but not for the act itself.

Any outrage caused by Bailey's demonstration is wholly unjustified. In-class demonstrations of this sort are indicative of a university and a professor that respect the maturity of their students. When attending a university, students should not expect parenting on what is and is not appropriate. The same way a student population would be outraged at filters that limit access to certain web content like pornography or explicit violence, students should be outraged if demonstrations like Bailey's were banned from campus. The point of a liberal arts education is to broaden the mind and, in theory, provide students with a broad enough set of tools to succeed in society. We shouldn't limit ourselves to certain topics because of social norms.

Inherently, the liberal arts should create an environment where no stone is left unturned and the interests of all are given equal opportunity for exploration. If sexual education isn't your thing, don't go. But the basis for liberal arts is, "Maybe if I do go to that science lecture, I'll discover an interest I never knew I had."

Those who call the act perverse and inappropriate would have benefited most from the lecture. Understanding cannot be achieved through avoidance. If they had sat through the lecture with an open mind and came out of it with the same opinions, I would value their judgment much more than if they made judgment calls without ever having opened themselves up to learning. In short, the best way to tear something apart is to arm yourself with as much knowledge and experience on the topic as possible.

Thinking back on some of the best classes I have taken, they were characterized not only by the professors but also by the varying opinions in the class. An important component of the liberal arts is bringing people from different areas, upbringings and beliefs together to learn from each other's experiences. In the same way that learning about poverty in a room with students on full-tuition scholarships and those who can handily afford to pay their entire tuition leads to the most thorough and representative discussions, learning about sexual crimes from sex offenders provides the biggest opportunity for understanding the topic from multiple perspectives.

Likewise, sexual acts like these cannot be fully explored by way of PowerPoints and lectures. This is college and we have earned the right to choose our education. Knowledge for the sake of knowledge is never a bad thing. Building an intelligent student body is not about ensuring that everyone excels at math, science, history and writing. While those are surely important, intelligence takes many forms. The ability to have an open mind about subjects that make us uncomfortable is as important as our studies of conventional subjects. Furthermore, sexual education is an underdeveloped part of our understanding. All too often, sex is the elephant in the room. Creating a culture where anything can be discussed thoroughly, without fear of judgment, benefits everyone in a community. It starts by forcing ourselves out of our comfort zones.