Ousted From His Cornell Fraternity for Defending Commitment, Jared Lederman Isn't Backing Down
Lederman’s defense of commitment collides with Cornell’s sex-education message, putting the values families teach at home in the middle of a campus debate.
Cornell senior Jared Lederman says people should not have sex until they are in a committed relationship, and he has said he will accept being called a prude for that view1. The College Fix profiled him as a former Cornell frat member because Zeta Beta Tau removed him last month over an opinion piece he wrote2. That fight reaches families because the university shapes the environment young adults enter after they leave home.
“sex-positive public health messaging campaign”
He does not run from the label. He accepts it.
- Oct. 5Lederman publishes his column criticizing Cornell’s sex-education approach
- DecemberLederman is set to graduate and wants to build a campus free-expression platform
On Oct. 5, Lederman published a column on his Take Back America Substack headlined “Cornell Has A Sex-Education Problem.” The column targets Cornell Health’s “Sexual Pleasure: Finding the Sweet Spot” guide, which encourages students to explore sexual fantasies, experiment with sex toys, and consider bondage and fetish gear. Lederman writes that he believes sexual intimacy belongs within a committed relationship, accompanied by loyalty, responsibility, and exclusivity. He is not asking Cornell to adopt that view, only to stop promoting the opposite2.
In an interview with The College Fix, Lederman said the sex-ed message should be about contraception and caution. He argues that Cornell treats consent as the measure of morality, and that consent only shows whether a person was free to say no. Lederman writes that families entrust their children to universities because they assume that authority will bear at least some resemblance to the values they taught at home. Lederman says the task force report recommends a highly visible “sex-positive public health messaging campaign.” His conclusion is that Cornell can provide contraceptives, offer medical care and oppose sexual assault without appointing itself a guide to sexual experimentation3. The College Fix reports that Lederman, a 19-year-old applied economics major graduating in December, wants to build his Take Back America effort into a platform for campus free expression2.
Family Brief holds that marriage and the married two-parent home are the best foundation for children, and that public policy should encourage marriage and family formation. Lederman’s defense of sexual commitment speaks to that principle, because lasting relationships and responsibility shape strong families. After graduating in December, Lederman hopes to build a campus free-expression platform; universities should make room for commitment as a standard for students, not treat it as an outdated idea.
Sources
- @CollegeFix on X, 2026-10-13: Meet the former Cornell frat member standing up for moral integrity ‘If we live in a society today that calls me a prude for saying people shouldn’t have sex until they’re in a committed relationship, then I guess I’m a prude’ https://www.thecollegefix.com/mee, 2026-10-13
- Meet the former Cornell frat member standing up for moral integrity
- Cornell Has A Sex-Education Problem
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