“The Vagina Monologues” will be performed for the first time on Marquette’s campus since 2007, this Saturday at 8 p.m. in the Weasler Auditorium.

The student-run production was made possible with the help of the co-sponsors Empowerment, a Marquette feminist student organization, and the department of social and cultural sciences.

Roberta Coles, social and cultural sciences department chair, said she feels it is important to have this play on campus because sexual violence against women remains a serious problem worldwide, “and, as should now be clear, the Marquette community is not immune from it either.”

Written by Eve Ensler, “The Vagina Monologues” is a series of monologues based off of interviews Ensler had with more than 200 women over several years. Originally performed by one woman, it has since been performed by several women and looks at female empowerment through the female vagina.

A group of students called the Marquette University Vagina Warriors will address “women and their bodies, their life experiences and their struggles.” They also hope to encourage dialogue that will lead to the end of violence against women, according to the event’s Facebook page.

Student organizations have been unable to sponsor the event without academic sponsorship in the past because some material in the play opposes Marquette’s mission.

Marquette’s student organization handbook states: “In those cases where a program, film or printed material is considered to be opposed to the mission of the university, there may be a requirement for the presentation of multiple points of view.”

In a March 2010 Tribune report, Chris Miller, vice president of student affairs, said it is not that the play is against Marquette’s mission, but including faculty will ensure it is “well-balanced.”

That description is up for debate, said John McAdams, an associate professor of political science. He said it would be great to have the play performed on campus if it was to be critically analyzed.

He said that there are parts in the play about violence against women which address issues of social justice, but he feels it is cheapened by the sleazy context of the play.

“There are plenty of people who can come and talk (compellingly) about violence against women,” McAdams said. “(The message) is tainted when you throw in things like a lesbian dominatrix part.”

However, academic sponsorship implies the event has an educational purpose and comes under the thought of academic freedom, Coles said.

“This year students decided to perform it on campus and, with help from faculty and staff who will lead a talk-back session, the university supported it,” she said.

Claire Lally, a senior in the College of Arts & Sciences involved with the play, said in an e-mail the co-sponsorship from the department helps by distributing advertisement and adding the educational component to the play.

Lally feels there are plenty of speakers who can be brought to campus to urge dialogue and raise awareness, but that this play is intended to raise awareness and bring to light voices and personal stories who cannot be heard.

“This first-person perspective is a different, and in my opinion, very emotionally impactful way of creating dialogue and raising awareness,” she said.

Anahi Sanchez, another student working on the play, said these types of plays are especially good on Marquette’s campus where people seem to be hesitant in talking about issues like women and sexuality.

“(This hesitancy) demonstrates the need to have that dialogue,” said Sanchez, a senior in the College of Arts & Sciences.

Sanchez said by having these topics discussed in a play rather than a lecture, more people would be inclined to hear them.

Rachael Wandrey, a junior in the College of Arts & Sciences, will perform in this play for the second year. She will perform a piece on Bosnian women refugees who were raped as a systematic tactic of war.

“As an institution, Marquette needs to take every chance it can get to raise awareness and genuinely acknowledge the unequal way in which women experience safety,” she said in an e-mail.