Sex is a constant topic at any university, and Harvard University has decided to provide funding to for a highly controversial magazine that plans to increase discussion of it.

The Harvard Undergraduate Council decided to commit $2,000 to help H-Bomb, which will feature nude photographs of students and articles about sex and sexuality, begin publishing. Harvard has done the right thing in recognizing the magazine and giving it the opportunity to succeed. The magazine itself could turn into an excellent publication. Harvard is not the first to begin addressing an issue that is widely prevalent on college campuses across the nation. Vasser College was the first publish an erotica magazine, and its version is currently printing its sixth edition.

But while the Council made the right decision in funding the H-Bomb to help them get the magazine’s feet off the ground, the amount of free publicity the magazine got when it received approval in February will no doubt help the group find outside funding. The resources for funding student groups are often scarce and other groups must not be placed on the back burner or shortchanged due to the H-Bomb’s exposure.

Harvard was right in promising to pull funding should the magazine cross the line. Because the magazine is not independent from the university, the editors will be likely to (and should) remain cautious about the publication’s content. The editors must keep the audience in mind and produce a good, informative magazine that does not turn into a cheap university-based pornographic magazine. But while the university must draw the line somewhere, it must also foster student opinions and promote freedom of speech on campus. People are allowed to disagree with content in H-Bomb, but until that content crosses the line, it should not be kept off campus – Harvard has done an excellent job of acknowledging that.

Students are especially conscious about sex and sexuality in college. This magazine could provide the perfect opportunity for topics related to these issues to be brought up in an educational manner and will provide an excellent forum for some of the many problems concerning sex and sexuality in college to be addressed. Should the magazine cross the line of art and pornography, Harvard can invoke its right to pull funding, though it should not attempt to shut it down or punish students working on the magazine. The magazine is protected under freedom of speech and college students are more than capable of deciding for themselves whether or not to the content is of any worth.

Harvard has taken the initiative to provide its students with the opportunity to benefit from freedom of speech and should be commended for keeping in stride with a prevalent topic.