**This article contains graphic content**

On Feb. 20, a multitude of raunchy quotes, were presented to the full house packed into the Alumni Lounge, all gathered to experience The Vagina Monologues presented by the Victimology Club and co-sponsored by the Interfraternity Council. These quotes were part of an interactive trivia that began the night as Mike Swift began reading, “‘Girls love being tied up . . . it gives them the chance to be the helpless victim.’ Stand up if you think this quote was from a Men’s Magazine, and stay sitting if you think it’s from a rapist.”

The Vagina Monologues is an episodic play featuring a multitude of monologues, all inspired by the actual responses of different women who were asked different questions about womanhood.

Regarding the University, The Vagina Monologues is annual event put on by the Victimology Club each spring semester, usually around Valentine’s Day. To gain entry to the event, the audience was asked to bring canned items, gently used clothing and/or monetary donations to be given to the Milford Rape Crisis Center. The event is intended to help bring awareness to varying issues revolving around sexual violence, and to help spread this awareness to different groups of people on campus. Another main focus of this event, specifically this year’s edition, was to call attention to rape culture both in the media and within the college campus environment.

This year, the organizers of the event decided to try something new. To start off the event, the two emcees read a series of quotes, and had the audience guess whether they came from the mind of a rapist, or from a men’s magazine. Based on the mixed guesses from the audience members, the beginning game shocked the crowd when they found out the correct answers. In regards to the rest of the event, the provocative original content kept the audience enthralled, enthusiastic and engaged. The topics addressed throughout the night ranged from the female orgasm, to sexuality, to transgenderism, to rape, to much more, each monologue completely different from the former.  

“A lot of times it’s hard to get people to come out to serious talks about such a difficult topic. With an event like The Vagina Monologues, it allows for part of the event to be light and comedic so that the information can get across to people who normally don’t hear it,” explained Victimology Club treasurer Ashley Snyder about the event’s outreach.

In regards to the large and diverse crowd, Briana Diaz, a third-year participant who performed multiple monologues was pleasantly surprised. Diaz explained that she was “really excited that so many people came to see it because it is a really educational production.” Diaz went on to say she thinks The Vagina Monologues offer a “new perspective” on the varying subjects. Diaz also explained the difference in casting this year, and why inclusion is important in regards to discussing sexual violence. “It was also new (at least the first time in the past three years) to have guys take part in it. I think it was received really well. Sometimes, for some reason, people need to hear about troubles from other people that are not experiencing the problem to realize that something is wrong, that the people complaining aren’t exaggerating.  And its important to know that sexual assault, which is part of what the monologues advocate for, isn’t just a women problem. It’s an everybody problem and we need to stand together,” she said.

To end the night on a bit of a lighter note, Assistant Director for Student Life Programs & Title IX/VAWA Compliance Ashley Dunn joined the emcees to read some statistic-based trivia questions and toss t-shirts to those who could answer the questions correctly.

As the T-shirts were distributed, Dunn told the crowd she wanted to see the shirts worn on campus in order to spread awareness of sexual violence.

“These shirts are meant to start conversations,” she said. The Victimology Club hopes to raise education and awareness of violence against woman, and host a multitude of Title IX events throughout the year, open for all to attend.