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'Monologues' returns to campus
Anthropology, Sociology departments co-sponsor play; performances to be followed by academic panels
Mary Kate Malone
Issue date: 2/6/08 Section: News
After being held at an off-campus location in 2007, "The Vagina Monologues" will be performed in a DeBartolo classroom at Notre Dame from March 26-28.
Organizers tailored the production to fit specific guidelines set forth by University President Father John Jenkins - who, after speaking with students and faculty for 10 weeks in 2006 - decided not to prohibit the sexually explicit Eve Ensler play at Notre Dame.
His guidelines, which he delivered in April 2006, entrust academic departments with deciding what events should and should not be sponsored, and they emphasize the need for multiple viewpoints on controversial topics.
As a result, each performance of the "Monologues" will be followed by an academic panel discussion that will approach the play from different intellectual perspectives.
"We used those [guidelines] and sat down and considered, 'How can we make this event fulfill this criteria?'" said senior Lisa Rauh, one of the play's lead organizers.
"The Vagina Monologues" was first performed at Notre Dame in 2002. More than 600 colleges and universities stage the production during the months of January, February and March as part of the worldwide V-Day campaign, which aims to raise awareness about sexual violence against women.
Jenkins questioned the presence of the production at Notre Dame in a series of speeches after the play had been performed as a theatrical event on campus for four consecutive years. Ten weeks of discussions about sponsorship, endorsement, academic freedom and Catholic character followed his address, culminating in his decision to allow the "Monologues" at Notre Dame. That year, the play was performed in DeBartolo 101 and was followed by academic panels each night.
But last year, organizers failed to find a department to sponsor the production and held the "Monologues" at South Bend's First Unitarian Church. This was due to hurried planning - not faculty or department unease, Rauh said.
Organizers tailored the production to fit specific guidelines set forth by University President Father John Jenkins - who, after speaking with students and faculty for 10 weeks in 2006 - decided not to prohibit the sexually explicit Eve Ensler play at Notre Dame.
His guidelines, which he delivered in April 2006, entrust academic departments with deciding what events should and should not be sponsored, and they emphasize the need for multiple viewpoints on controversial topics.
As a result, each performance of the "Monologues" will be followed by an academic panel discussion that will approach the play from different intellectual perspectives.
"We used those [guidelines] and sat down and considered, 'How can we make this event fulfill this criteria?'" said senior Lisa Rauh, one of the play's lead organizers.
"The Vagina Monologues" was first performed at Notre Dame in 2002. More than 600 colleges and universities stage the production during the months of January, February and March as part of the worldwide V-Day campaign, which aims to raise awareness about sexual violence against women.
Jenkins questioned the presence of the production at Notre Dame in a series of speeches after the play had been performed as a theatrical event on campus for four consecutive years. Ten weeks of discussions about sponsorship, endorsement, academic freedom and Catholic character followed his address, culminating in his decision to allow the "Monologues" at Notre Dame. That year, the play was performed in DeBartolo 101 and was followed by academic panels each night.
But last year, organizers failed to find a department to sponsor the production and held the "Monologues" at South Bend's First Unitarian Church. This was due to hurried planning - not faculty or department unease, Rauh said.