This year on Halloween, which Yale graduate Nathan Harden described as an opportunity for college students to dedicate a day “to the celebration of human vice,” several hundred college students will do something countercultural. They will gather at Princeton University to learn arguments in favor of “marriage, family, and sexual integrity” from scholars such as Princeton’s Robert P. George, UVa’s W. Bradford Wilcox, and George Mason’s Helen Alvaré.
The conference is put on by the Love and Fidelity Network (LFN), which serves as an umbrella for student groups at about 30 colleges around the country (including Harvard, Yale, Stanford, Princeton, Georgetown, and UVa), as well as a growing network of alumni, faculty, and parents. LFN’s aim is to build a new generation of “articulate and effective new generation of leaders who will advocate for marriage, family, love and fidelity on college campuses and in the public square.” LFN stands out at a time when colleges actively encourage students to engage in detrimental sexual habits (see, for example, the “Sex and Sexuality in Campus Culture” section of NAS’s report What Does Bowdoin Teach? Page 206-242).
The NAS and the Love and Fidelity Network are positively influencing campus culture in different but complementary ways. NAS is a sponsor at the LFN conference and will connect with students there who are interested in our principles. Many of the students in leadership in LFN groups are devoutly Catholic or Protestant; NAS is not a religious organization but we expect that many students at the conference also care about the principles for which NAS stands – intellectual freedom, virtuous citizenship, and the search for the truth.
We invite NAS members to pass along the word about this conference to undergraduate students who may be interested in attending.
Here is the information from the Love and Fidelity Network:
Sexuality, Integrity, and the University
October 30-31, 2015
At Princeton University
The Love and Fidelity Network is hosting its eighth national conference, Sexuality, Integrity, and the University, on October 30-31 at Princeton University. The goal of this annual conference is to connect college men and women to leading scholars and experts in order to equip them with the best arguments and resources in support of marriage, family, and sexual integrity. Participants will also find ample opportunity to network with and learn from each other, and attend sessions designed to equip them to bring the message of love and fidelity back to their respective campuses.
All conference meals are included in the cost of registration as well as housing for undergraduate students both Friday and Saturday nights. Admission is $50 for students and $75 for non-students. Register at loveandfidelity.org.
Conference Speakers
Helen Alvaré, J.D., George Mason University
W. Bradford Wilcox, Ph.D., University of Virginia
Margaret S. Chisolm, M.D., Johns Hopkins University
Bill Struthers, Ph.D., Wheaton College
Dawn Hawkins, National Center on Sexual Exploitation
Robert P. George, Ph.D., Princeton University
Jeffrey Shears, Ph.D., University of North Carolina, Greensboro
Hilary Towers, Ph.D., Developmental Psychologist and Author
Jennifer Lahl, R.N., Center for Bioethics and Culture Network
Moderated by R. J. Snell, Ph.D., Eastern University
