What was supposed to finally be a middle ground to the “Vagina Monologues” controversy, which started last year with the Rev. William Byron, S.J., interim president, turned out to be only a continuation of the dispute.
After a cancellation made by Byron and one year of protests, Loyola finally participated in V-day on Monday – The event primarily raises money for charities and focuses on stopping violence against women.
The culmination of the V-day activities was a performance of “The Vagina Monologues,” which was co-sponsored by the Women Issues Organization and Alpha Psi Omega.
Monday’s performance was welcomed by a packed house, which consisted of students, faculty and a range of community members. According to English senior and Women’s Issues Organization co-president Parisa Memarian, the play raised about $1,600 for Crescent House.
The Rev. Kevin Wildes, S.J., university president, said the approval of the on-campus performance of the controversial play was a heavy point of focus within Loyola.
While the campus response has been mostly positive, Wildes has received some biting criticism for his decision. On Wednesday, Archbishop Alfred Hughes admonished Wildes for allowing the production to be performed on campus.
In an interview with WWL-TV, Hughes called the play “contrary to Catholic teaching” and stated that Wildes’ decision to allow it on campus was regrettable.
“I would be unfaithful to my charges as archbishop if I did not state publicly that ‘The Vagina Monologues’ is offensive to sound Catholic teaching,” Hughes said.
In addition, “The National Review” published an editorial by Kathryn Jean Lopez chastising Wildes for allowing the performance not only at Loyola University New Orleans but also for allowing it to take place at Georgetown University while he was a professor of ethics. Lopez wrote that “The Vagina Monologues” was a “weird, sick little play.”
“The Vagina Monologues” has been deemed inappropriate by many people because of its graphic language and sexual scenes, particularly in one monologue involving a sexual encounter between a 24-year-old woman and a 16-year-old youth. However, V-day performances of the play have occurred at more than 600 colleges across the country, including Jesuit schools such as Loyola University Chicago, St. Louis University and Fordham University.
Although the Loyola Women’s Issues Organization first became involved in the V-day program during the fall semester of 2003, production of the play was shut down after Byron advised that the performance not take place and suggested that the organization find another means of fundraising that was more “appropriate.” Another basis for his decision was the Cardinal Newman Society, which urged all Catholic university presidents “to ensure that they [productions of “The Vagina Monologues”] do not occur.”
Byron’s controversial statement caused a large backlash among a number of students and faculty. He could not be reached for comment regarding Monday’s performance.
This year’s administration viewed the V-day program in a different way from the previous administration.
After Wildes approved the performance, he sent out a campus-wide e-mail explaining his decision.
“First, as with any performance, presentation, etc. on campus, my first question was whether or not it had gone through the normal channels and review,” Wildes wrote in the e-mail. “If it did, I saw no reason to intervene.”
Wildes also commented on the importance of the play and its relation to Loyola as a Jesuit institution.
“There are people who say that the play has no place on a Catholic campus,” Wildes wrote. “But this position misses the reality that the play has provoked a good deal of conversation among women and has helped them to name the dehumanizing attitudes and behaviors which reduce them to sexual objects.”
The exclusion of the play from a Catholic campus would belittle women’s experiences as things that had no importance in society, according to Wildes. Listening to others’ ideas is key for a university that claims to foster Catholic humanism, Wildes said.
“I would argue that these voices are what a Catholic university must listen to if we are to understand human experience and if we are to be faithful to the One who welcomed all men and women,” he said.
Wildes was unable to attend Monday’s performance due to “a prior, long-set commitment.”
Memarian said the production was proof of what a group of determined people could do.
She said that Alpha Psi Omega cast and rehearsed the production within two weeks time, and that the play was better than even she expected.
“I’m so proud of the women in Alpha Psi Omega who worked so hard to get the play together, and I’m amazed at the number of people who came to the performance and were so generous with their time and donations,” she said.
Erica Ciccarone, A’04 and last year’s co-president of the Women’s Issues Organization, said that, although she believes the right to perform the play should not be something that can be granted or taken away by any administration, she was happy with Wildes’ decision.
“I really strongly commend how Father Wildes reached out to the community through his letter and worked within Jesuit values to promote women’s rights,” she said.
Summer Zeimetz, political science freshman, was one of the actresses in the performance. She said she thoroughly enjoyed her experience in the production.
“I liked being able to bring a taboo to the stage and see how people react,” she said. “The acceptance and overall audience support was both unexpected and overwhelming.”
Tara Templeton can be reached at [email protected].
