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Jason Evert spoke Tuesday in the O’Shaughnessy Educational Center auditorium on the topic of meaningless sex and how chastity can be beneficial. Evert engaged the audience using a balance of humor and gravity to illustrate sexuality in college and high school.

Using statistics and storytelling, Evert had the audience gasping at times and laughing out loud at others.

Sophomore Carolyn Wilson and junior Elizabeth Meyers both said they loved Evert’s honesty, humor and ability to relate to the audience.

“I thought he did a really good job at coming down to our level and telling us things that are part of real-world situations, not just abstract ideas,” Wilson said.

Evert was able to speak on the issue of sex from a point of view not far removed from the average college student’s ethical considerations.

“A lot of times you have chastity speakers that exclusively say, ‘No sex before marriage or you’re going to hell,’” said Meyers. “The stuff he said really spoke to people our age.”

Evert said it is important to target students in college so they can have successful relationships in the future.

“I think the future of the world goes by how families are. The health of the family is largely dependent on the health of a marriage,” Evert said. “I think if you can help people in their college years, they are going to have more successful marriages.”

When Evert shared stories about his personal life, Meyers said the overall message of the talk was crystallized.

“I just loved how honest he was, especially how he shared the story about his wife,” Meyers said.

Director of Campus Ministry, the Rev. Erich Rutten was glad to see students enjoy the presentation.

“I am amazed by the buzz afterwards… everyone is grabbing brochures, and there was a standing ovation,” Rutten said. “That tells me that people were hungry to hear the message.”

Patrick Roche can be reached at roch6667@stthomas.edu.