“Moral Development and Humor: How Educational Theory and Stand-up Comedy Can Improve Sexual Assault Prevention Education”

I know, what a title for an undergraduate admissions blog. Please let me explain. First, my name is Austin Wiese and I’m a junior government major from South Dakota. I’m in a group called OneinFour, an all-male sexual assault prevention peer education group. Last Saturday night, immediately following our homecoming football game, ten members and our advisor left the colonial city of Williamsburg for the pastel, stucco city titled Orlando, Florida. Destination: the 2008 National Conference on Sexual Assault in Our Schools. After fifteen hours in a van together, a stop at IHOP, and a few bathroom breaks, we made it.

Back to the title; it was the second day of the conference when I decided to scan the schedule of speakers. As you can imagine, each program is important and you would like to go to everyone. However, one title caught my eye. I had heard amazing things about Gail Sterns, a former stand-up comedian and co-author of a national program titled, “Sex Signals,” but I could not help but ask myself, How can the phrase “Stand-up Comedy” fit into the same sentence as “Sexual Assault Prevention Education?” She quickly showed me.

Sitting in the conference room with around 30 other people, the program began. It started serious, but quickly the comedic side of Miss Sterns became prevalent. To be honest, I did not feel particularly comfortable at first. But then it hit me; I saw what she was doing. She was not only making her points, but she was emphasizing those points through comedy while keeping us at the edge of our seats. The two comedic tools she used that stuck out to me were analogies and exaggerations. Whenever she needed to explain a point she would not lecture the group or talk down to us, but she would make an analogy. The analogy itself may not have been funny, but her language, gestures and side-comments kept the group involved. Even more entertaining and effective was her use of exaggerations. To display the absurdity of certain attitudes towards rape survivors or to show how a simple word or group of words can be demeaning towards women, she would explain her point and take that point ten steps further. As she got deeper and deeper in the exaggeration the audience began to realize, if they did not already, what was wrong with that statement or attitude.

Ok, enough rambling. To summarize, the program stunned me. I was fascinated. I was amazed. I watched her speak for nearly three hours and I was immersed in the program every second. These are the types of things that occur at William and Mary. These are the types of opportunities available to those students who have a desire to get involved and work towards a particular goal. Whether it’s OneinFour, Young Democrats, or the Wizards and Muggles club, you will have endless options available to you.

Austin Wiese, Class of 2010