Women’s and Gender Studies department questions use of University Events Policy

To President McCulloh and the Board of Trustees:

We, members of the affiliated faculty of the department of Women's and Gender Studies, are writing to express our disappointment and anger over the recent decision not to allow, yet again, a production of "The Vagina Monologues" on the Gonzaga campus.   This decision is inconsistent with the University's Events Policy, sends a message that Gonzaga does not value women and undermines our status as a Jesuit and Catholic University dedicated to "the essential role of human creativity, intelligence and initiative in the construction of society and culture" within a "sphere of free intellectual inquiry characteristic of a university." 

The decision to deny the performance of the play, while couched in terms of policy and procedure, is a decision to uphold the 2002 decision banning the play on the grounds that "The Vagina Monologues" is inconsistent with being Jesuit and Catholic.  The decision is fundamentally based on objections to the content of this play.  Fr. Kevin Wildes, S.J., president of Loyola University New Orleans, addresses this issue directly in an open letter explaining his decision to allow a performance of "The Vagina Monologues" on his campus.  He writes:  "To exclude the play from a Catholic campus is to say, either that these women are wrong, or that their experience has nothing important to say to us.  I would argue that these are the voices that a Catholic university must listen to if we are to understand the human experience and if we are to be faithful to the One who welcomed all men and women. The play affords an opportunity for everyone to think critically about the social issues involved in the treatment of women . . . Grappling with very difficult issues [raised by the play] means that we are living in our Jesuit heritage by discussing and arguing about aspects of the human experience.  These are difficult and tragic aspects of human experience.  But, they are dimensions that ought not to be ignored if we are to build a better, safer world."

The meaning of the word "Catholic" is inclusive, universal, all-embracing, and the Jesuit tradition has always been one which embraces the culture of which it is a part.  Fr. Wildes discusses what it means to listen to the voices represented in "The Vagina Monologues;" but what does it mean to silence those voices?  The decision to ban the play sends the signal that women, and specifically women's bodies and their sexual experiences, are unimportant, outside human experience, perhaps even aberrant.  Surely it is this idea that is inconsistent with our Jesuit and Catholic identity.

The Events Policy was put in place to create a clear procedure ensuring the open discussion of reasonable opposing views regarding controversial events, so that all relevant stake-holders have an opportunity to participate in that discussion, and that the decisions are made on consistent and appropriate grounds.  President McCulloh's decision to ban "The Vagina Monologues" based on Board of Trustee involvement is inconsistent with the Events Policy because it circumvents the standard outlined by the policy, a standard which authorizes the administration to deny permission for an event only for six specified reasons.  These reasons have been disregarded, and the decision instead seems to have been based on opinions which have been allowed to remain publicly unarticulated and anonymous so as to curtail any such meaningful open discussion.

The importance that such a discussion happen in a public and transparent way cannot be overstated. The danger inherent in opacity is that the decision will be taken as merely the newest addition to a continuing pattern of facts, actions and failures to act which undervalue women's issues and the Women's and Gender Studies department, while simultaneously supporting events and actions that are in line with a masculine and heterosexual perspective.  This pattern includes (but is not limited to): the lack of funding and resources for the Women's and Gender Studies Department in comparison to other departments and concentrations; the denial of 19 years of requests for approval to hire a faculty member dedicated or partially dedicated to Women's Studies/Women's and Gender Studies; the fact that students identifying as other than heterosexual are nine times more likely to experience a negative or threatening experience on this campus than self-identified heterosexual students; the minimal action in response to the allegations of sexual misconduct; the lack of child care; the lack of domestic partner benefits; and the lack of any policy ensuring that legally mandated maternity and family leave is not the sole responsibility of the individual employee. In the absence of any articulation of the current objections to "The Vagina Monologues," many of us are at a loss how to escape the intolerable conclusion that this decision indicates that Gonzaga remains a place that does not value women.

We hope and want to believe that this pattern belongs to Gonzaga's past, not its future, and we do not want to ignore the important actions that have already been taken to change this pattern.  We recognize and applaud the assignment of a permanent space for Women's and Gender Studies, the strengthening of the sexual assault policy, and the establishment of the GLBT resource center as only a short list of the work already done. 

This is a beginning.   We call on you, President McCulloh and members of the Board of Trustees, to continue to take actions indicating Gonzaga's serious commitment to women.  Resolving these issues will take courageous and responsible leadership and decisive actions, and we are eager to work with you on this complicated but necessary task.

This letter was submitted to The Bulletin from professor Linda Tredennick, and has also been signed by 26 other faculty members.