Students talk love, sex and relationships

On a cloudy day in March of 2011, students that regularly commuted to and from class stopped and stared slack-jawed at the roof of Waite Phillips Hall. The source of the disruption? One USC student thought it was a good idea to cross “rooftop sex” off their bucket list.

People on campus caught the incident from all angles in graphic photos and videos, and the male USC student identified was quickly suspended from his fraternity. Still, the event left the campus abuzz with discussions about the repercussions of hookup culture, both public and private.

A decade later, the Daily Trojan spoke with students to explore how commonplace hookups remain at USC. Peer pressure, self-esteem issues and the stress of academic life all contribute, students say, to the non-committal sex taking place in dorm rooms, frat houses and who knows where else.

A recent article in the American Psychological Association highlights just how common hook-ups are. New data suggests that between 60% and 80% of North American college students have had some sort of hook-up experience.

Kaila Roberts, a sophomore majoring in computer science and business administration, said the statistic sounded accurate and attributed the high percentage to the pressure students feel to hook up at schools like USC.

“The pressure of hook-up culture at these schools is very much real… if you just go up to a random person on the campus and ask them, ‘Hey, have you ever hooked up with someone before?,’ they probably will tell you yes. And it has become such a normal thing,” Roberts said. “It makes you feel like you should be doing that as well.”

The culture at USC and other campuses like it adds pressure on college students to participate in sexual activity despite doubts they may have. And, the media students can play a part in hook-up culture as well. Jade Bacon, a sophomore majoring in jazz studies, said she had seen TikToks of strangers with a microphone and a camera walking up to students in the USC Village and asking sexual questions for content.

“They’re always like, ‘What’s the freakiest thing you’ve ever done?’ It always has to be sexual related,” she said.

College marks a pivotal point in many students’ development into adults. Kevin Gramling, a sophomore majoring in theatre, explained how for many students college is their first time living away from home and in a completely personal space.

“We’re all similar-aged people living without authority figures,” Gramling said. “We have dorms, we have apartments, we have places that we partly own … So we have a personal space now for intimate things to happen.”

All of these factors make it easier to understand why college students may feel emboldened to hook up if they hadn’t previously. Roberts also said that there was external pressure from peers to not commit to a relationship,

“Oh, why are you in a relationship, you’re in college, you’re tying yourself down,” is the sentiment that Roberts said she’s heard on campus.

There are many different reasons why people might have a one-night stand, but some students at USC seem to think it’s because a serious relationship is not on the table and so casual sex is the next best thing — despite how hookup-obsessed people think college students are.

“It’s almost like it has a semblance of a serious relationship,” said Gramling, calling hookups a form of “intimate human physical connection” for those still developing into

adults. “We just recently became not children anymore.”

Jaydelle Herbert, a graduate student studying journalism, said hookups are a way for students to avoid confidence issues and boost self-esteem — some people feel the need to hook up because they need a confidence boost after a heartbreak.

“They may use sex or just hook-up culture as a sense of building up their self-confidence in their body and everything,” she said.

Asked to describe hookups in a single word, students were all over the place:

“Outdated,” Roberts said.

“Overrated,” said Johanna Reyes a sophomore majoring in civil engineering.

“Toxic,” Herbert said.

Yet, the practice goes on and on, as much a part of the college experience as tailgating before the big game or cramming for an exam.

“How could you have a hookup with someone, or something meaningless before you even have your own first relationship? Isn’t that crazy? How could you try to imitate love before you even felt it?” Roberts said.