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Activist, Playwright Eve Ensler To Speak at Alma

 
One of the world's leading crusaders for ending violence against women will address students, faculty, staff and community at Alma College.

World-renowned activist, performer and playwright Eve Ensler, author of the global phenomenon The Vagina Monologues, will speak at 8 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 6th in the Remick Heritage Center. Admission is free and open to the public.

As a kickoff to Ensler’s presentation and Women’s Month in March, Alma College students will perform The Vagina Monologues at 8 p.m. Friday, Feb. 1st and Saturday, Feb. 2nd in Jones Auditorium at Alma College. This student-produced, -directed and -performed benefit costs $5 or a donation at the door. All proceeds will go to the Gratiot County Women’s Aid Services. 

Author of more than a dozen plays and books and founder of the V-Day campaign, Ensler is one of today’s most prominent crusaders for ending violence against females and raising awareness of the conditions of women all over the world. 

“The audience can expect a wonderful presentation,” says Grandville senior Rebecca Peacock, event organizer and student producer of Alma College’s 2008 presentation of The Vagina Monologues.

“Eve Ensler is an extraordinary women and speaker,” she adds.  “As an activist, one of her main goals is to mobilize audiences and spread awareness of issues that impact all people.”

Ensler founded V-Day, the global movement to end violence against women and girls, at the first benefit of The Vagina Monologues in 1998. Currently celebrating its 10th anniversary, the V-Day campaign has raised more than $50 million and reached thousands of communities in more than 100 countries around the world. 

The ‘V’ in V-Day stands for Victory, Valentine and Vagina. 

Ensler is the recipient of many awards, including the Guggenheim Fellowship Award in Playwriting, the Berrilla-Kerr Award for Playwriting, the Elliot Norton Award for Outstanding Solo Performance, the Jury Award for Theater at the U.S. Comedy Arts Festival, the Freedom of Expression Award at the Sundance Film Festival, as well as the Amnesty International Media Spotlight Award for Leadership, the Matrix Award, and numerous other recognitions. 

Celebrating women’s sexuality and strength, The Vagina Monologues has inspired not just V-Day but new awareness and honest discussion of female issues and conditions as well. The different monologues comprising the production are based on Ensler’s interviews with more than 200 women. 

"The Vagina Monologues is about women, their struggles and their triumphs,” Peacock explains.  “The monologues range from dealing with issues of rape and assault to orgasms, aging and much more.”

Peacock continues, “The play is not only entertaining but also helps contribute to an amazing community organization that needs our support.” 

The benefit production was first performed in Alma as part of the V-Day campaign in 2002. 

Ensler’s presentation and the performances of her world-famous monologues are sponsored and organized by the MacCurdy House, Women’s Issues Advisory Board, Co-Curricular Committee, and the Women’s Studies and English departments at Alma College. 

Copies of the new, 10th anniversary edition of The Vagina Monologues will be available for purchase and signing following Ensler’s speech.

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In the more than 100 years since its founding, Alma has stayed true to its roots by keeping its Scottish heritage alive. Today, Alma features a marching band clad in Kilts, a Scottish dance troupe, student pipers and its own tartan. Each year, the College hosts the Alma Highland Festival and Games, which feature traditional Scottish games and revelry.

 

Student Profile

Melissa Carstens

Melissa Carstens
Graduation: 2008
Major: Education
From: Marquette, Michigan
Interests: Singing, Dancing

Alma’s off-campus study programs do more than place students in exciting locales to meet interesting people; they also create new opportunities for personal growth and skill development. One of the best ways to learn about other societies and cultures is to study and travel in international settings. You do not always have to know a foreign language.