Sex and God at Yale: Porn, Political Correctness, and a Good Education Gone Bad Hardcover – August 21, 2012

Referencing young William F. Buckley’s career-launching critique of liberalism, God and Man at Yale (1951), and even employing Buckley’s son, Christopher, for the introduction (Buckley fils does seem to be squirming here), young Harden (Yale, 2009) is shocked—shocked!—that a paragon among American higher-education institutions is so distracted by the notion of sex. His focus is on Yale’s biennial Sex Week, which, funded largely by such corporate interests as sex-toy maker Pure Romance, appears to hold students (and administrators?) in absolute thrall. Harden makes some important points here—the (further) corporatization of American universities and the objectification of women being two examples— but he delivers them with so little grace or wit that readers might be tempted to just stop caring. Still, interest in Yale and in sex might bring an audience. Look for Harden to show up as a conservative commentator on cable news, further advancing his brand, but it might not be pretty. --Alan Moores

“The ideology of sexual liberation that is the lasting legacy of ‘Me generation' liberalism and its imbecilic doctrine of ‘if it feels good do it,' has hardened into an orthodoxy on college campuses around the country. Not only is it uncritically embraced by many students, it is supported by a great many faculty members and abetted and even promoted in a variety of ways by academic administrators. In the spirit of the late William F. Buckley, Nathan Harden takes a hard, critical look at the prevalent sexual liberationist dogmas at Yale, exploring their damaging effects on the educational enterprise and their often tragic consequences in the lives of students.” ―Robert P. George, McCormick Professor of Jurisprudence, Princeton University

“This startling dispatch from a talented young writer will shame Yale, if the Yale he describes is even capable of feeling shame. Nathan Harden's memoir is a 21st-century sequel to Bill Buckley's God and Man at Yale and its lesson is simple: Don't send your daughters to New Haven.” ―John J. Miller, National Review national correspondent, Wall Street Journal contributor, author of The Big Scrum and Our Oldest Enemy

“Only a college administrator could love the sexual playgrounds doubling as America's elite colleges. And only Nathan Harden can give our priapic ivory tower the softoff it deserves. His insight is penetrating; his wit hits the spot; he lands a thousand blows. Most erotic commentators are lucky to make it to third base. With Sex and God at Yale, Harden scores a walk-off grand slam.” ―James Poulos, Daily Caller columnist and Forbes contributor

“Hats off to Nathan Harden for exposing the shameful truth about how some of our nation's finest universities have allowed themselves to become cesspools of perversion. Instead of teaching young people moral values and principles, "progressive" faculty and administrators actively promote moral degeneracy and perversion among the leaders of tomorrow.” ―Carol Swain, PhD, Professor of Political Science & Professor of Law at Vanderbilt University

“The press has always primly averted its eyes from Sex Week at Yale, reporting only the barest of details from this trashy parade of porn stars and sex toy peddlers, lest it be deemed disapproving or prudish.  For its part, the Yale administration has hidden behind the claim that it had no responsibility for the student-organized event (a claim that was always patently false), and that it was obligated to allow the conference to proceed on free speech grounds. 

Now Nathan Harden reveals that Sex Week is far more grotesque than anyone outside a university could have imagined.  Worse, Yale’s eagerness to promote “glorious sex” among its students, as one bureaucrat put it, goes far beyond the sanctioning of Sex Week.    Sex and God at Yale is a jaw-dropping account of one university’s loss of moral compass.  Yale has forgotten its mission: to expose students to the most beautiful and challenging creations of human thought, and to confer on them knowledge.  Facility in the use of a cock ring is not the type of knowledge which universities are uniquely capable of providing.  Unfortunately, Yale’s abdication of adult authority is thoroughly typical of college administrations today.  If there are any parents out there who still care about what their children are actually learning in college, this book will alert them to the travesties of higher learning likely occurring at their own child’s school.” ―Heather Mac Donald, a John M. Olin Fellow at the Manhattan Institute

“Now Nathan Harden reveals that Sex Week is far more grotesque than anyone outside a university could have imagined. Worse, Yale's eagerness to promote "glorious sex" among its students, as one bureaucrat put it, goes far beyond the sanctioning of Sex Week. Sex and God at Yale is a jaw-dropping account of one university's loss of moral compass. Yale has forgotten its mission: to expose students to the most beautiful and challenging creations of human thought, and to confer on them knowledge. Facility in the use of a cock ring is not the type of knowledge which universities are uniquely capable of providing. Unfortunately, Yale's abdication of adult authority is thoroughly typical of college administrations today. If there are any parents out there who still care about what their children are actually learning in college, this book will alert them to the travesties of higher learning likely occurring at their own child's school.” ―Heather Mac Donald, a John M. Olin Fellow at the Manhattan Institute