March 12, 2003

‘Monologues’ divides campus

Colin McDermott
Contributing Writer

On Monday, March 10, two decisions were made concerning the impending student production of "The Vagina Monologues." The first was a decision by Xavier University’s executive committee to cancel the show, and the second decision was made by the student actors to redirect their energy into a rally against Xavier censoring its students.

On Friday, March 14, the student actors will hold a rally titled "Our Lips are Sealed: Students Against Xavier Censorship." The rally will be held on the residential mall near the Gallagher Center at 3 p.m.

In response to the sudden development, an emergency meeting was held at 4:30 p.m. on Tuesday, March 11, in which the student actors met with Xavier’s president, Rev. Michael Graham, S.J., to voice their respective opinions and concerns.

Roughly 100 members of the Xavier community showed, as well as all members of the executive committee , except for Dr. Carol H. Rankin. The committee includes Graham, Dr. Roger Fortin, Dr. J.R. Hirté, John Kucia, alumni Gary Massa, Dr. Ron Slepitza, and Rev. J. Leo Klein, S.J.

For the first 40 minutes of the meeting, students and faculty spoke, describing strong views about the executive committee’s decision. After that, Graham expressed his stand on the decision.

"I’m not afraid of picking issues and falling on a spear for them, but this is not one I will do ... I need to say up front the decision will not be reversed," Graham said.

The student actors were formally informed of the decision to cancel their show this past Monday. Slepitza, Vice President of Student Development at 7 p.m. in the Gallagher Center Theater.

"I gathered you here to inform you of a decision that I want you first to hear from me. The executive committee felt that it was inappropriate for ‘The Vagina Monologues’ to be performed," said Slepitza.

The committee decided that it was inappropriate for Xavier University to put on a play like "The Vagina Monologues" because of the play’s sexually descriptive content. Some of the experiences described in the play violate Jesuit ideals that Xavier should stand for, according to the executive committee.

"One of the traits of a university is to be faithful to its values. What does it mean to be faithful to our Jesuit and Catholic character? ‘The Vagina Monologues’ deals with some very important issues we should be discussing here on campus. Some issues go against what we value, like premarital sex and rape, so we chose to cancel," said Slepitza.

Cathy Springfield, director of performing arts, agrees that these issues should be discussed at Xavier, but that the decision was misguided.

"I really do think the theater is the place for it," Springfield said.

"The Vagina Monologues" is a play constructed out of a series of monologues about the actual, sexual experiences of women. It was written by Eve Ensler, who interviewed a variety of women, and those interviews became the basis of the play. The play is promoted to raise awareness of, and put a stop to, violence against women.

"The Vagina Monologues" has become a perennially - performed staple at many American colleges and universities. There are 656 colleges worldwide that planned to perform the play during February and March. Of them, 43 were Catholic colleges. Ohio’s other Jesuit university, John Carroll, performed the play last year and is doing so again this year.

The first Xavier production was scheduled for this Friday, and the student actors had been rehearsing for the past few weeks in anticipation of the premiere. Monday was the first they heard of their show being cancelled or even that the executive committee had been considering canceling it.

Slepitza emphasized that, while there are obviously two sides to the issue, both sides have valid reasons for their views and actions. There were no checks and balances between departments, so the executive committee was unaware of "The Vagina Monologues" production until the past few weeks.

Although members of the executive committee may not have known about production of "The Vagina Monologues," the administration had to be informed of the play for it to get this far along in production. Springfield needed to reserve the theater for the specified weekend and informed Luther Smith, director of Student Life, three months ago.

"I was given approval back in January by Luther," said Springfield.

Slepitza said that the issues raised in "The Vagina Monologues" should be discussed at Xavier, but the committee did not feel that this particular show was the best vessel for such discussion because of its sexual content. The committee was concerned the content would be offensive to certain groups or tarnish Xavier’s Jesuit identity.

"Is this vehicle the only vehicle for that conversation and should we ignore these other folks who feel they’re a part of Xavier, another voice that should be censored?" Slepitza asked.

According to Slepitza, once certain groups of people learned of the impending "Vagina Monologues" production, his office became flooded with concerned phone calls over the past two weeks.

"We’ve gotten calls from alumni, the Board of Trustees…concerned citizens. They saw the production of this play as Xavier abandoning its Jesuit ideals," Sleptiza said.

"You’re saying you’re trying to feel both perspectives, but we’re the students, and at no time did anyone pick up a phone and call us," said junior student actor Greg Le Saint.

While the executive committee looked out for the interest of Xavier’s Jesuit ideals, they may have met the concerns of certain citizens, but the student actors were very hurt by their decision.

"If the ‘concerned citizens’ who felt performing this play is abandoning its Jesuit ideals, then this university is abandoning its women," said junior Jen Such.

In response to such concerns, Slepitza assured the student actors that he would contact the Executive Committee members in regard to the student actors’ sentiments. Slepitza arrived on their request, and the March 11 emergency meeting allowed more students an open exchange with the rest of the executive committee.

At the meeting, Graham explained that there are many groups and views that must be considered in this issue, and that it is not clear cut.

"In the public eye, the issue of the play itself swamped the issue of violence against women," Graham said.

All of the rallying student actors were in attendance, but they also plan to spread awareness to the Xavier community through use of campus email. Furthermore, they have been circulating petitions around Xavier’s campus about free speech and expression of ideas on Xavier’s campus.

The petition asks its signers "to support us in presenting ‘The Vagina Monologues’ at Xavier University, ensuring the student body has the ability to construct ‘creative and intelligent engagement with questions of peace and justice’," which they quote from Xavier’s mission statement. Last, they ask Xavier to "develop a policy and procedure for student programming initiative; this process must include student input."

The debate over "The Vagina Monologues" is rife with controversy. For instance, freshman student actor Crystal Johnson wondered why "Drag Queens on Trial" could be performed while Ensler’s play could not. Junior student actor Lauren Gray asked why the play can be taught in classrooms but not performed.

Slepitza explained university policy is to stand behind academic freedom, in which classes can teach any material that is in accord with their subject. It is a different matter for the university to sponsor an event and put on a play.

Sophomore student actor Katie Leslie believes that "The Vagina Monologues" is not performed for shock value, but for education. For instance, the student actors planned to hand out rape brochures to the audience before the show.

Slepitza said that the executive committee was in a very tough position. They learned of the issue very late before the first show and they knew that some people would be hurt by any decision they made.

"Do we defend something we didn’t have the opportunity to examine in the first place?" Slepitza asked.

Senior Puja Srivastava believes that the university’s first duty is to respect and educate its students, and that message of understanding is ultimately what "The Vagina Monologues" preaches.

"It’s about women having the right to speak about our bodies and our right to be, and it’s just wrong being canceled," she said.

Emotions about the decision aside, the committee is concerned with this issue. In a formal statement from Graham’s desk, he stated:

"In choosing to cancel this production, we believe the sensationalism surrounding the play stood in the way of our coming together to dialogue around the issue of violence against women."