The UCLA Sex Squad, a sexual education group under the UCLA Art & Global Health Center, is currently trying a new crowdfunding initiative to raise money and bring an arts-based approach to sexual education to local high school students.
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TRANSCRIPT:
CAMPBELL: UCLA has recently launched Spark, a new crowdfunding initiative giving on-campus groups like the UCLA Sex Squad the opportunity to solicit donations from the public. The Sex Squad is a community service group on campus seeking to change the way sexual education is taught in high schools. Second-year political science student and Sex Squad member Shirley Kawafuchi outlines the Sex Squad’s main mission:
KAWAFUCHI: It’s so much more than sexual health. It’s body image, it’s self-esteem, it’s feeling comfortable in and outside the boxes of gender roles that society will try and put you in.
CAMPBELL: The Sex Squad is currently trying a new fundraising tactic with UCLA Spark, through which members of the general public are free to make small individual donations. Spark is one of the first crowdfunding initiatives created specifically for a large university, designed for more unconventional projects which may not be well-supported under traditional donor and grant-making systems. UCLA Art & Global Health Center Director of Development Elisabeth Nails explains why the Sex Squad is well-suited for crowdfunding.
NAILS: With a name like UCLA Sex Squad, people automatically have a strong reaction, especially if they’ve never heard of it. I think that the name does encourage people to dig a little deeper.
CAMPBELL: Nails explained how a name like Sex Squad can serve as a hook to grab people’s interest and encourage donations. According to the Los Angeles Unified School District’s HIV/AIDS Prevention Unit, Sex Squad plans to use money raised from Spark to finance a 2014 tour of high schools throughout LAUSD (They do these regularly, but this is the first financed through Spark). The Sex Squad usually receives funding from grants and donations from organizations such as the Ford Foundation and the David and Linda Shaheen Foundation to cover expenses such as tour vans and hospitality costs. However, these grants are under reconsideration this year, causing the Sex Squad to turn to fundraising to cover the expenses of their tours. These tours, performed annually, are at the core of Sex Squad’s efforts to reach high school students. Kawafuchi describes what the Sex Squad does on these tours:
KAWAFUCHI: We go around and we visit LAUSD high school assemblies of 9th- and 10th- graders usually, and we put on this big, sexy, comedic performance for them teaching about sexual health. It’s a very interactive show, so they get a chance to jump in, change some scenes and share their personal experiences as well.
CAMPBELL: The Sex Squad emphasizes an arts-based approach to discussing sexual education. Member and third-year world arts and cultures student Zakk Marquez explains:
MARQUEZ: We created our whole performance based on personal experiences, and we do skits, music, acting, a lot of different things. We create a show that we take into high schools across LAUSD and perform it for their high school health classes.
CAMPBELL: The Sex Squad has been busy promoting its crowdfunding effort to supporters throughout Los Angeles.
NAILS: We’ve had all our social media channels going crazy, we’ve been reaching out via email, we did an event on Valentine’s Day to launch it … Anything and everything, really.
CAMPBELL: The Valentine’s Day event included parodies of hit songs as well as personal narratives and sketches. So far, the Sex Squad has raised more than $7,000 toward its $10,000 goal. Through Spark, the UCLA Sex Squad hopes to raise the money it needs to bring an arts-based approach to sexual education to Los Angeles high schools.
For Daily Bruin Radio, this is Chris Campbell.