Pittsburgh There was no clear winner recently when “the world’s most recognized porn star” squared off against an anti-porn activist on the pros and cons of pornography.

But the nearly 500 students who overflowed the Ferguson Theater at the University of Pittsburgh at Greensburg to hear the spirited debate between Ron Jeremy and Susan G. Cole left with plenty to think about.

Jeremy took the stage to a roar of applause after stern warnings from Frank Wilson, director of the college’s Behavioral Sciences Academic Village.

“We’re here to have fun, but this is a substantive matter, and both of our speakers take this very seriously,” Wilson said. “This is not Animal House, so no stupid questions.”

For the most part, the students complied — though Wilson still inadvertently got a big laugh when he told them to turn their cellular phones off “or put them on vibrate.”

Yet, despite some inescapable innuendo and some flat-out graphic examples from both speakers, the talk maintained a level of seriousness.

Cole — a lesbian from Toronto, Ontario, Canada — started off by saying that she is “not into censorship,” nor is she a Christian or a moralist. “In fact, fundamentalists would be appalled by me.”

Nonetheless, she said, “my goal is to put pornography people out of business through education. I’m here to tell you that everything is not just fine, as Ron would have you believe.”

An author, playwright and senior entertainment and books editor at NOW Magazine, a Canadian news and entertainment weekly, Cole has been active in the anti-pornography movement since the late 1970s.

In the 1980s, the Harvard graduate crossed college campuses in Canada with a series of well-attended debate spectacles with Screw Magazine publisher Al Goldstein.

“It’s important to look at pornography and understand that it can’t exist without deeply entrenched systems of exploitation,” Cole said. “Most women involved in pornography are desperate women in desperate situations.”

She urged students to “fight for sex education” and “work for women’s equality, especially economic.”

Jeremy responded by saying that he is “not on the attack. Porn just wants to be left alone.”

A self-proclaimed ambassador for the adult film industry, the porn icon’s promotional materials describe him as “a pudgy but lovable wacko who has become one of porn’s most prolific male stars through sheer perseverance.”

He graduated from high school in Brooklyn, N.Y., in 1971, attained a master’s degree from Queens College and worked as a high school special education teacher in New York City until his girlfriend sent his photo to Playgirl Magazine’s “Boy Next Door” feature.

Offers from the porn industry followed, and he debuted in 1979, quit his day job and pursued “porno stardom” full time.

“I’ve been in the business for 26 years, and I’ve done close to 2,000 films,” Jeremy said.

“It’s entertainment. It’s performance. Exploitation hasn’t been the case since the 1970s,” he argued. “Women in porn get paid $100,000 to $250,000 a year, some of them are millionaires, whereas guys earn from $30,000 to $50,000 … we’re just props.”

Jeremy recommended “recreational use” of pornography.

“Too much of anything isn’t good for you,” he said. “But it’s all part of that wide world of entertainment, and no one’s entitled to tell you what not to watch.”

Jeremy called mainstream pornography an “honest” industry.

“We tell you right up front that it’s rated X, watch it or don’t. We’re not role models, we cater to consenting adults,” he said. “You’re not even supposed to watch it until you’re over 18 years of age.”

Nonetheless, nearly all the students raised their hands when Cole asked how many of them had seen their first porn film before they were 18 years old.

“That’s disgusting,” Jeremy quipped, impishly. “How dare you. I’m going to come up there and spank all of you senseless.”

While Cole held her ground on many points, she was clearly not the star of the show.

“Ron has a lot of fans,” she admitted. “And I like him, but I don’t always believe him.”

Cole noted that Jeremy was admired by many of the male students, and said: “Even your ‘god’ admits that he can’t wait to do other things” instead of making porn films.

“I like it, but no, it wasn’t my first choice,” Jeremy conceded. “I’ve even talked some girls out of it. But there’s really nothing wrong with it.”