Gonzaga University for the first time ever will play host to the controversial play The Vagina Monologues. It would appear that some students have been trying for a long time to get the nasty play on campus without success. But now they’re all like yay what an accomplishment! But college students are mostly idiots. I know I was. The worrisome part here is that the school seems to be acting idiotically as well.
The Gonzaga Bulletin reports:
For the first time in Gonzaga University history, the performance of the “Vagina Monologues” will be allowed on campus.
The women and gender studies program, the English department, the sociology department, the Honors Program, and the Institute for Hate Studies are teaming up to sponsor “({Monologues, Dialogues & Stories}): Interdisciplinary Academic Discussion on Women’s Narratives, Catholic Theologies, Violence Against Women, and ‘The Vagina Monologues.’ “
Director of Women and Gender Studies Dr. Patsy Fowler announced the week Tuesday after the events were approved by Academic Vice President Dr. Patricia Killen.
“[We were] elated, [when we found out that the ‘Vagina Monologues’ were approved],” student organizer Meghan Yee, senior, said in an email. “It was quite the process to get the OK, but excitement is one of the only ways to describe this accomplishment. But also and again, a sense of ‘finally’ especially after all of the work that has been put into bringing the ‘Vagina Monologues’ to Gonzaga by all of the involved students of the past.”
According to an email from Dr. Fowler, “the week will include three interrelated events.” There will be a panel presentation and discussion on April 4 at 6:30 p.m. at the Foley Teleconference Center that will feature Fowler, Dr. Cate Siejk, Fr. Tim Clancy, and student Drew Pollom, entitled “Voices on ‘The Vagina Monologues,’ Catholic Tradition, and Jesuit Identity.”
Gonzaga is one of thirteen Catholic colleges to allow the play on campus. Nine of them are Jesuit run, according to the Cardinal Newman Society.
“Catholic colleges that host this play—some of them repeatedly—should be ashamed of the obvious contradiction with their Catholic identity,” said Patrick J. Reilly, President of The Cardinal Newman Society. “Most Catholic colleges have rejected the Monologues and found much better ways of seriously addressing women’s issues.”
The Monologues say lesbian activity is all that, masturbation is cool, and sex is all about you feeling good. Yeah, because that’s exactly what kids today need to hear. And you know, Jesus was all about the pleasure principle.
This seems like a shame because I’d read in a number of places that Gonzaga was still pretty Catholic, especially when compared to their neighbor Seattle University. I’m hoping this announcement isn’t indicative of a trend.
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