Published amidst the debate regarding co-education, the satirical work attacked the board of trustees for their continuing opposition to the idea of the College as a co-educational institution. The article assumes the supposed perspective of an Amherst student looking for a "good time." Recounting sexual escapades and giving detailed instructions on where and how to score, it stated that co-education was unnecessary as the students of neighboring Smith and Mt. Holyoke Colleges provided all that women had to offer; that is, sexual gratification. Homunculus proposed that all the arguments against co-education boiled down to one single issue. "This is a big step, I understand, because we hate to admit that we need women physically," he wrote.
In concluding, Homunculus tips his hat to the board of trustees by advising students to "forget compunction, foolish qualms; these are problems of co-educational institutions where the presence of females leads to continual male guilt, embarrassment and impotence. The trustees recognize this and they are far wiser than we."
While the article was applauded by some for its implied condemnation of the "sleazing mentality," for most, the author's feigned chauvinistic rhetoric was tasteless and offensive. In the course of a week, The Student received close to 50 letters in response to the article, many of which dubbed it as being blatantly offensive and as having done the cause a great disservice.
"We cannot imagine why the article 'Sleazing' with such degrading style and content was printed," wrote Ellen Goldstein, Alix Meier and Elizabeth Seidman of Mt. Holyoke College. "Mr. Homunculus does harm to our worthy cause."
Outside the Amherst campus, a boycott of all activities and demonstrations (see photo) at the College were called for by women at Mt. Holyoke and Smith in protest to the article. Despite the backlash, the article served to revitalize the issue of co-education, instigating more letters to the editor in a week than in the previous nine months combined.