Texas State University recently promoted a free program called “Sex in the Dark,” which featured an anonymous question-and-answer panel and university participants referred to as “SEXperts.” The event also included free glow-in-the-dark merchandise. This initiative prompted a Hood County Republican precinct chair to question how the public university utilizes its resources.
The university’s official calendar listed University Health Services as the campus sponsor of the August 24 program at the LBJ Student Center Teaching Theater. The event page said Healthy Cats and Students Against Violence organized the fourth annual event and aimed to give students a comfortable setting to ask questions about sex, sexual health and relationships.
Organizers advertised a resource fair followed by a 90-minute panel. The event page said the resource fair would feature the Hays-Caldwell Women’s Center, Texas Wears Condoms, the Hays County Health Department, the Texas State Counseling Center, and the Student Health Center.
The event page advertised the panel as featuring “SEXperts” from Texas State faculty, the Counseling Center, the Student Health Center, and Health Promotion Services peer health educators. Organizers also advertised free glow-in-the-dark merchandise for all participants and custom tote bags for the first 50 attendees.
The Dallas Express obtained an email promoting the program to students. It stated, “Join Health Promotions Services tonight at 6:30 p.m. for our fourth annual ‘Sex in the Dark’ anonymous Q&A.”
Texas State lists program as health and prevention activity
Texas State’s Health Promotion Services says its prevention and educational services address sexual health, violence, mental health, alcohol, tobacco and other drug use, among other subjects. The office says it provides health presentations, campus outreach and special events.
The university’s 2025 Annual Security and Fire Safety report lists “Sex in the Dark” among programs offered during orientations and throughout the year, and attributes the program to Healthy Cats, Students Against Violence, and Health Promotion Services. The report also catalogs a fall 2024 edition as programming for the general student population.
Republican precinct chair questions university resources
Hood County Republican Party precinct chair Kolton G. Krottinger said colleges can have a legitimate role in providing health information but questioned the event’s branding, giveaways and institutional promotion.
“Texas State is a taxpayer-supported public university, and Texans deserve to know exactly why university resources are being used to promote events like ‘Sex in the Dark,’” Krottinger told The Dallas Express.
“There is a legitimate role for straightforward health education, but provocative programming, giveaways and institutional promotion raise serious questions about priorities, judgment and the use of public resources,” he said.
Krottinger called for the university to disclose who authorized the program, how much it cost and how the university funded it.
“Parents and taxpayers have every right to ask whether this is what they expect from a public university in Texas,” he added.
Texas State’s current fiscal policy for University Health Services identifies Clinical Services and the Medical Service Fee as primary UHS accounts. The policy does not identify the funding source for “Sex in the Dark.”
The records reviewed by The Dallas Express establish that Texas State’s University Health Services sponsored the program, university channels promoted it, and organizers listed university offices as participants. They do not identify the event’s total cost or establish that state appropriations or other taxpayer dollars directly paid for the merchandise, tote bags, staffing or other event expenses.
The Dallas Express contacted Texas State University for comment but did not receive a response by the time of publication.
Provided by Dallas Express
