While the phenomenon of sexual coercion has been studied extensively, little is known about African-American college students' perceptions about verbal sexual coercion. Using a phenomenological approach, the researchers conducted five focus group interviews with 39 African-American students (20 females, 19 males) at a large Midwestern university to elicit perceptions of sexual coercion. Focus group discussions were based on four primary research questions: (1) What is sexual coercion? (2) How common is sexual coercion? (3) What causes it? (4) How can it be prevented? Content analysis was used to extract and report themes that emerged from the focus group interviews. Participants denounced physical coercion as rape and only addressed verbal forms of coercion in their discussions. Participants viewed verbal sexual coercion as a normative behavior often referred to it as "running the game." They acknowledged the reciprocal nature of coercion as well as the fact that women use it and experience it as much as men. Poor communication skills were identified as a potential cause of sexual coercion. Because of this, college health and university housing personnel, along with health educators, need to focus their efforts on helping students improve sexual communications skills.