Little has stirred the pot of controversy in Tennessee as much as Sex Week.

Established on campus in 2013, Sex Week first made headlines when UT administration pulled more than $11,000 from Sex Week’s funding just two weeks before the event was scheduled to have its inaugural run. After members of the organization Sexual Empowerment and Awareness in Tennessee were able to collect enough privately received funds, almost overnight, to support full programming, Sex Week earned credibility on the campus and national stage.

“When students come to UT they should be welcomed, accepted and challenged to join conversations like the ones SEAT is having,” said Nicky Hackenbrack, SEAT co-chair and junior in biochemistry molecular biology. “SEAT wants to enact a cultural shift towards sex positivity so that students are making best decisions for themselves and supporting each other.”

This year, when the five day extravaganza of sexual education and health promoting events was scheduled for its second appearance on UT’s campus, SEAT gained more attention than it expected.

In February, a resolution condemning Sex Week activities at UT passed in the state legislature, calling the event an “outrageous misuse of student fees and grant monies.” However, legislators were quick to offer more than just a slap on the wrist, and soon senate bills threateaned to restrict student activities funding altogether.

Senate Bill 1608, the first action against student funding allocation, required student fees which support student organizations to be distributed to organizations based on club membership. For small group clubs like SEAT, the bill could be devastating.

Senate Bill 2493, also proposed this year, prohibited the use of student activities fees to be used for guest speakers of events. Although both bills were ultimately dropped, their declaration of the state’s opinion of events like Sex Week on UT’s campus remained.

“To some degree, even people who are really against us, speaking out publicly is still them talking about it,” said Elizabeth Stanfield, a member of the SEAT executive board and sophomore in anthropology and geography. “Our goal isn’t to tell people that they should or shouldn’t do any specific thing, it’s just to get them talking. In that way, I guess we’ve been overwhelming successful.”

Stanfield also noted that the state’s adamant refusal to support events which promote sexual liberation on a college campus only validates the work that SEAT hopes to accomplish at UT.

“In some way it’s kind of galvanizing,” Stanfield said. “While disappointing that kind of opposition is, it’s indicative of the kind of culture shift that we think needs to happen.”

In an effort to seem more appealing to state legislators and more conservative leaning students, SEAT endorsed programs this year with more conventional focus and events that were strictly for entertainment, like the Aphrodisiac Cooking Class. However, most events were based on student feedback from 2013’s audience, and SEAT paid little attention to demands made from the state.

“Overall, though, we decided not to censor the names of our events or to change the overall image and mission of Sex Week,” said Summer Awad, SEAT co-chair and sophomore in College Scholars. “Sometimes you have to do some controversial things to really engage people in the conversation. Even when people are responding negatively to Sex Week, they’re still talking about it, which means we’ve done our job.”

While this year particularly emphasized sexual assault, Hackenbrack said next year SEAT would like to also emphasize issues surrounding human trafficking, revenge porn, the use of technology in hook-up culture and body image. SEAT’s ultimate goal, however, is to fill the void of sex education in Tennessee, which Summer Awad calls “nonexistent.”

“Most sex education programs never address LBGTQ issues or teach that the clitoris exists,” Awad said. “This exclusion of women and sexual minorities is harmful to mental and emotional development and health. In addition, rape and sexual assault are almost never addressed, and when they are addressed, rare incidences of stranger rape are emphasized and notions of consent are ignored.

“As you can see, there is so much misinformation we have to work to addres … This is what makes this work so important, and we will continue to fight for the right to do it.”

Sex Week 2015 is scheduled to take place from April 6 – 11. To learn more about SEAT, visit http://sexweekut.org.