Hurriqueen: How serious is that fling in the stacks? UMPD will tell you.

We’ve all heard rumors about sex in the stacks, the upper levels of the library that are often near-empty at night. But the Hurriqueen wondered, does it ever actually happen? Do students actually have the nerve to get nasty in public places on campus? So two weeks ago, we asked you, our loyal readers, to give us the 411. Part one of our investigation follows.

A reader who asked to go by the name of Jack London said that he is living proof that the books in the stacks have indeed seen a lot more action than reading.

“It was spring break during my sophomore year at UM and my long-distance girlfriend was coming to visit,” Jack says. “The first night she gets in my roommate could not get the hint to leave the dorm room. Next thing I know we are on the sixth floor of the stacks in Richter going at it seated rear entry… it’s the only time I can say those chairs weren’t used for studying!”

Just when we thought it couldn’t get more public that that, a reader who goes by the pseudonym Amanda Lenox wrote claiming she has had sex with her boyfriend on one of the orange sliders on the UC Patio.

“It was like 4:30 in the morning, we were drunk, and we had just gotten back to campus from going out,” Amanda divulges. “No one was around and as far as I know, no one saw us.”

But of course, this begs an important question: What if Amanda did get caught? Would she and her boyfriend receive a slap on the wrist or face much graver repercussions for their actions?

In an interview with The Miami Hurricane, Lt. William Gerlach of the University of Miami Police Department, warned that consequences are determined on a case-by-case basis.

“If an officer were to see people engaging in that kind of sexual activity or if someone went and filed a report, there could be criminal charges depending on the situation,” Gerlach said. “If two people are completely nude having sex, that could result in criminal charges because it would probably be considered lewd and lascivious behavior or exposure of sexual organs.”

Though Gerlach did not provide examples of incidents in which students have been caught, he did say campus police aware that sex on campus is a reality.

“There’s always rumors and stories,” he said. “[Public sexual activity] has happened; there’s activity in the stacks and we get complaints here and there.”

Gerlach said that while public indecency on campus is a legal issue, it is also one of concern to the Dean of Students. Stay tuned for part two of our investigation, in which we will explore actions the Dean of Students office takes against students found to have sex on campus.