Condoms were strewn over the tables in the Peace Dining Room, and bingo cards were filled with different terms relating to sexual wellness, reproductive health, and sexuality. The crowd was excitedly shouting out terms like “gonorrhea”, “chlamydia”, “consent”, and “public lice”. On the prize table at the front of the room, there were cans of bubbl’r, coupons for Nordic Brew and Marty’s, NASA consent shirts, sex toys, and a pair of fuzzy handcuffs.
On November 2, Norse Against Sexual Assault (NASA) and Luther Wellness hosted Condom Bingo, an annual opportunity for Luther students to learn about safe-sex practices and win prizes. They covered everything from “a mature female reproductive cell” (ovum), to “a bacterial infection that usually starts as a painless sore” (syphilis), to “attraction to more than one gender” (bisexual). As people found terms on their bingo sheets, they used condoms to cover words and keep score. Vice President of NASA Maddie Kaasa (‘25) highlighted some of the goals that NASA had for the event.
“We want to destigmatize everything surrounding sex, sexual wellness, all of that,” Kaasa said. “[Condom Bingo] is a really good educational opportunity, too, because we can go over definitions with all of our terms. One of NASA’s pillars is education, and this is a fun way to do that. People don’t have to ask questions, they can just hear the answers.”
Kaasa mentioned that NASA particularly wants to engage first-year students in the organization, to provide information that they may not have received in high school health classes. Annika Veit (‘27) had her first experience with NASA through Condom Bingo, and spoke to the safe and welcoming environment of the event.
“This was a great way for me to learn more [information about sexual wellness],” Veit said. “I see on the tables there are also [pamphlets about different types of contraception] which are also super helpful. This is a good resource for everybody, and feels like a very safe environment to learn about things [relating to sexual wellness].”
At the event, the bingo callers gave a definition of a term, and the crowd shouted out the term that goes with the definition. The callers periodically added extra facts that related to the terms, giving students more information to empower them to make choices about their own sexual health. Adelee Wrightsman (‘26) learned new information about sexual wellness, and felt the event was a great educational opportunity for all.
“I learned about dental dams, and different symptoms of STDs,” Wrightsman said. “I think that this could help me figure out if I have an STD, or if someone talks about it, let them know that they need to go to the doctor. For most people, this probably helped them [learn about different aspects of sexual wellness and safe sex]. Knowing that there is a group [on campus] that talks about [sexual wellness] openly and publicly feels very supportive.”
NASA has four pillars that drive all of their work on campus: striving to increase awareness about sexual assault, educating students about sexual assault and sexual wellness, preventing sexual assault on campus through building a “Green Dot” campus culture and supporting students through a survivor-centered empathy practice. Kaasa acknowledged that while NASA is known for their work towards preventing and increasing awareness about sexual assault, the organization has not recieved a lot of attention for their other areas of focus and discussion.
“People think that our meetings are mainly talking about consent, and procedures at our school surrounding sexual assault, but we only do a couple meetings like that,” Kaasa said. “We also cover topics like domestic abuse, we talked about masturbation last week. We do everything, and I think that people sometimes don’t come to our meetings because they think they will be very serious, talking about [sexual assault]. We cover such a wide range.”
Kaasa also explained that NASA has recently dealt with community misconceptions about the organization’s purpose and connections. Recently, there were several anonymous posts on YikYak that conveyed “anti-NASA sentiments” and allegedly attacked members of the executive board. Kaasa spoke to the communication-driven culture that the executive board wishes to create on campus surrounding the organization and its advocacy work.
“We try our hardest to create a supportive space for survivors, and something that is really important for us… is to hear from the Luther community,” Kaasa said. “We just ask that people bring these issues to us, so we can address them, we can change what we’re doing.We just really want people to let us know what we can be doing, what we shouldn’t be doing. We just want open communication with the community to let us know how we can help.”
NASA is one of many organizations on campus that acts as a resource for students dealing with and recovering from sexual harassment and assault. Students experiencing sexual harassment of any kind can also use the Title IX office as a private resource for support. The Office of Student Engagement is also a private resource for students. Other confidential resources on campus include Luther College Counseling Service, College Ministries and the Luther Clinic.
NASA meets on Tuesday nights every other week in the Mott-Borlaug room. Their next meeting will be on Tuesday, November 7 at 7:30 PM. The theme of their meeting will be “Let’s Talk: Title IX” and will focus on Title IX regulations as well as discussing how Title IX could be improved at Luther.
