Beacon scandal

Apparently there is a mini-scandal at YU: http://blog.newvoices.org/?p=10070

A story about a girl meeting a man at a hotel for sex in a YU-sponsored student site has been removed, and the site might lose YU funding. The story appears in a section of the site reserved for literay expression, whether fictional or otherwise. I don't know if its true, but if YU is removing it because it assumes that this is a true story or will be perceived as such, then I am truly troubled, because I think the assumption that personal life info can be gleaned from fiction stories can inhibit Orthodox writers. On the other hand, I understand YU's thinking: They don't want a reputation where Stern girls are presumed to be sexually active - both because that would mean admitting that segments of the student body do not conform to the school's ideology, which can be seen as a failure on the school's part, and because YU already has to face a right-wing critique of their institutional frumkeit, and this adds fuel to the fire. Still, I think having a frank discussion about sexuality at YU might be the healthiest reaction, because censoring this article (apparently the site self-censored) won't make the reality that some Stern girls spend nights with guys - a reality this story speaks to, even if it is fictional - go away. I also do think if the story were pornographic, YU would be within its rights to pull funding - any university has the right to choose not to fund literary porn.

YU has had articles about sex in Kol Hamevaser and the Observer (I don't read the Commentator) and it did have the panel on homosexuality in the Orthodox world - but it also had major backlash from within the YU establishment about that panel.

I found this intelligent Obsrver article on sex: http://www.yuobserver.com/science-health/this-too-is-torah-and-i-must-learn-1.2470380#.TuFu7EpqM4Z
and am linking to the author's blog, with her take on the current scandal and more of her sex-related-articles: http://curiousjew.blogspot.com/2011/12/yu-beacon-piece-on-sexuality.html

Here is the full scandal-causing story: http://yubeacon.com/2011/12/the__written_word/how-do-i-even-begin-to-explain-this/