The College Fix

Tennessee school cancels workshop: ‘Not a college-sanctioned event’ 

A BDSM sex workshop to be hosted by a campus chaplain and taught by a dominatrix was canceled this month at Rhodes College in Tennessee after sparking backlash.

The Rev. Beatrix Weil, a Presbyterian Church USA pastor and chaplain at the private college, organized the BDSM 101 workshop to be held on campus, FOX 13 reported. BDSM stands for erotic behavior involving bondage, domination/discipline, sadism, and masochism.

“Chaplain Beatrix will host a local dominatrix to share wisdom on how to safely, sanely and consensually learn about bondage, discipline-domination, sadism-submission and masochism. There will be an opportunity to ask questions anonymously,” according to an event invitation obtained by FOX 13.

But the workshop never took place. In a statement, the college said administrators at the Presbyterian-affiliated school canceled the event after they learned of it. “It was not a college-sanctioned event. No such event is planned for our campus,” the statement reads.

However, Weil did teach a first-year seminar, “Let’s Talk About Sex,” this fall where she welcomed a dominatrix to speak to students, National Review reported.

A Rhodes student who spoke to National Review on condition of anonymity said Weil’s “sex class” is one of the courses first-year students can take to fulfill a mandatory requirement to graduate.

“As a person of faith on campus, I was appalled to see the chaplain promote such acts that are obviously incongruent with the faith she supposedly represents,” the student said.

Another student, Coleman Clay, told FOX 13 said he also was shocked to hear of the BDSM workshop.

“I don’t think anything sexual like that or any seminar like that should be held on a college campus,” Clay said. “Even though this is a private school and they can get away with it, I don’t think that that belongs here, especially at Rhodes where I go. I’m not proud of it.”

Weil is a graduate of Princeton Theological Seminary with a master of divinity and certificate in theology, women and gender, according to her bio on the college website. She became an ordained minister in the Presbyterian Church USA in 2017.

“She is committed to extending hospitality to Rhodes College students of every background – religious and non-religious alike,” the college website states. “Chaplain Beatrix is a ‘safe zone,’ which means she is trained in supporting people of the LGBTQIA+ community. She would love to meet with you in her office, over tea, on the basketball court, or out on campus for a walk!”

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IMAGE: Fox 13 Memphis screenshot

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