David Tyson

This Valentine's Day, more than 600 colleges and universities across the nation raised cash for women's charities by hosting performances of Eve Ensler's The Vagina Monologues. But thanks to a bit of last-minute roguery, the University of Portland was scratched from that list.

A week ago, Monologues was slated for a V-Day performance in UP's Mehling Hall and the cast was prepping for a dress rehearsal. That's when the Rev. David Tyson, UP's president, sat down and took a good, long look at the script. And then, we can only presume, he prayed to be made clean again.

Not quite an opus of Catholic piety, The Vagina Monologues contains several heretical highlights: a 72-year-old woman finding her clitoris for the first time; a cast member inviting the audience to chant the word "cunt"; and a sexual encounter between a 24-year-old woman and a 13-year-old girl who claims that it may have been rape, but "it was a good rape."

Tyson immediately sent out a curt email to the university's staff, calling the play "offensive, questionable in its portrayal of violence, and not in keeping with the respect accorded the human body in this institution's religious tradition." The show was banned from UP's campus.

All of this came as a huge shock to Jeff Gauthier, a UP professor who had been helping the play's cast jump through administrative hoops to get official approval since November. "We did exactly what we were supposed to do," says Gauthier. "What angers me most is going through this whole process, then having the plug pulled on us."

After some panicked wrangling, the show did go on at Roosevelt High School. Proceeds benefit the Portland Women's Crisis Line and Clackamas Women's Services.

According to Vagina Monologues' official website, 42 other Catholic schools in the U.S. staged the show this year. In fact, UP itself staged it last year with little fuss. So why the sudden change of heart? We may never know: Tyson declined a chance to explain his motives to WW.

Marcilla Lucero-Miner, the play's student director, claims Monologues isn't bad at all if you understand its purpose.

"There are some parts of the play that I had a hard time with," says Lucero-Miner, who is Catholic. "But especially for women who have experienced violence, this can be a healing experience. The humor can seem crass, but they need it.

"Some people just can't hear it another way," she says.

WWeek 2015