Vagina Monologues Production barred

The word vagina has been used frequently on the Saint John’s University campus in recent weeks, because Alisha Brizicky, a 21-year-old senior had been planning a production of Eve Ensler’s The Vagina Monologues, as part of the V-Day national campaign to promote awareness in violence against women.
The Vagina Monologues is a play that celebrates female sexuality and self-expression. The play itself is one that tries to stop all violence against women and is based on over 200 actual sexual encounters and women’s experiences.
Yet, when Brizicky pitched her idea to Saint John’s University, the administration seemed to be appalled at the idea of such a production to go on at their school. She stated that the administration was “not at all receptive.”
Brizicky had planned for the production to go on in late February as an effort for V-Day to be recognized among her peers at the university.
However, school officials deemed the program “to be unsuitable subject matter in keeping with Catholic teachings and our Vincentian mission,” said Reverend James J. Maher, the university’s vice president of student affairs.
Reverend Maher also said that the school supports the awareness of violence against women, but that the subject matter of such a play is somewhat inappropriate.
The V-Day campaign is a non-profit organization, dedicated to ending sexual violence against females all over the world. In the past, over three million dollars have been raised and given to similar organizations across the world.
V-Day is mostly a college-oriented program, where amongst other things, The Vagina Monologues play has been performed with the idea of females speaking openly to educate other women in the aspects of sexual violence, domestic violence and other abuses.
In compliance with the school, Brizicky will not hold the production on the Saint John’s University campus, and is considering holding the event elsewhere.
“I’d prefer it to be on campus,” said Brizicky. “People here don’t talk about things like this, and I want it to be as available to them as possible,” she told The New York Times.