Loyola’s production of “The Vagina Monologues” has come to a halt, after interim University President the Rev. William Byron, S.J., pulled funding from the play and requested that it not be performed on campus.

The play was to be performed in conjunction with “V-Day,” an event to raise money for charities that help to stop violence against women.

V-Day has been initiated on college campuses around the globe, and event coordinator and communications senior Bethany Culp said it was time that Loyola joined in the cause. She applied for the program at Loyola, and it was accepted in late September.

Last week, after Culp had already met with directors, conducted auditions and planned for a February opening, she heard that Byron wanted to meet to discuss the event.

Culp had not thought that there would be any problems with the performance since she had not heard anything back in the fall when she and several other students first began sending out campus-wide e-mails about the event.

“We didn’t think it would be necessary to go to the president’s office to get permission,” Culp said. “We had the sponsorship of the Women’s Issues Organization as well as the support of many students and faculty.”

V-Day performances of “The Vagina Monologues” have already taken place at more than 600 colleges, including Jesuit schools Georgetown University, Loyola University Chicago, and St. Louis University.

The event was named one of Worth Magazine’s 100 best charities in 2001 and has benefited over 1,000 organizations around the world that work to stop violence against women.

But Culp said Byron told her last week that he felt, due to the graphic nature of the subject matter and language in the play, that organizers should find another way to raise money for their cause.

Erica Ciccarone, English senior and co-president of the Women’s Issues Organization, was also present at the meeting with Byron.

She said that he told them that the play had more “shock value than substance” and suggested that, after the incident last semester in which offensive words were scrawled on a bulletin board, many students might be sensitive to strong language and take offense.

“He seemed to think the play had no intellectual value,” Ciccarone said.

Ciccarone said that Byron suggested alternative means to help women in the community, such as starting a no-smoking campaign and encouraging women to dress more modestly on campus.

Byron said Monday that he did not call off the performance. Rather, he said that he encouraged the women to consider an alternative program modeled more closely after the “Take Back the Night” walk and rally because he felt that V-Day was inappropriate.

Byron said that women were being “violated in all sorts of ways” and that it was good to call attention to this problem.

However, he said that by discouraging the performance he felt that he was being sensitive to the campus community.

“The play includes the seduction of a minor child and graphic language,” he said. “It is inappropriate to have that celebrated.”

Byron said that women’s health was an important issue, and denied that he’d suggested that organizers replace the program with one about smoking or dress. Rather, Byron said that was simply mentioned as a sidebar during the meeting, but did acknowledge that he believes when people dressed inappropriately, they could encourage dangerous behavior. He said he realized that these issues might not be ones that the women had in mind.

“My hope would be that they would look for more appropriate means, something that reflects the dignity of women,” Byron said.

Ciccarone said that the content of the play was meant to be empowering.

“Reclaiming our bodies and words like vagina, masturbation, homosexuality, and rape will help spread feminism across age, class, race, and culture,” Ciccarone said. “It teaches women to revalue the female body and female sexuality.”

Julia Sorrentino, English senior and co-president of the Women’s Issues Organization, agreed that this issue was one that had to be addressed at Loyola.

“Given that much of this university is based on social justice issues, the issue of violence against women cannot be ignored,” Sorrentino said. “Sexual violence is a Catholic issue.”

Ciccarone said that this incident caused her to question what the university is really about.

“This problem raised issues about censorship, freedom of speech, and whether Loyola can live up to its claim to be a social justice university,” she said.

Jenni Daniel, coordinator of Tulane University’s V-Week program and director of their “Vagina Monologues” performance, said that, although she was not specifically informed about Loyola’s situation, the program had incredible success at Tulane as well as at schools and in communities around the world.

“It is a fun way to celebrate women and sexuality,” Daniel said. “In any school, this is a great way to break the ice and truly empower women.”

Sorrentino said that they had hoped to raise $6,000 to donate to the YWCA battered women’s program.

Ciccarone said that they were still hopeful that the play could take place. She said that she and other ogranizers were urging concerned community members, faculty, and students to write to Byron and express their discontent.

Culp said she is hopeful that V-Day will move onto Loyola’s campus eventually.

“I hope that, if nothing else, the administration allows it to be performed next year,” she said.