This year’s production of “The Vagina Monologues” is set to hit the stage in less than two weeks, and the controversy over the show’s “all-color” cast refuses to die.
Law student Pierce Beckham filed a complaint last month with the Central Student Judiciary – which handles complaints between student groups – claiming the production’s casting policy violated the University’s nondiscrimination policy and the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.
“Whereas my identity as a male might exclude me for certain reasons from The Vagina Monologues, (the organizers’) decision to exclude certain people was impermissible, given the University’s policies,” Beckham said.
As a longtime student activist and former chief justice of CSJ, Beckham is familiar with the University’s policies as well as the avenues open for students to resolve conflicts, he said.
“My past involvement has given me more knowledge than the normal student,” Beckham said. “I think as a community we lack an understanding of how to resolve differences when they pop up.”
CSJ is part of the Michigan Student Assembly. If private mediation does not resolve the conflict, CSJ holds a hearing to determine whether a trial is necessary.
Susan Wilson, director of the Office of Student Activities and Leadership, will mediate a meeting today with Beckham and the show’s organizers. At the meeting, each side will present its case in an attempt to resolve the issue.
CSJ Chief Justice Tim Harrington said he is confident that the two sides will reach a solution. It is unlikely the complaint will reach a trial in front of CSJ.
It is not clear what power CSJ would have over the production, but Harrington said it is unlikely it would be able to stop the show.
Beckham said he hopes his meeting with the show’s organizers will address his complaint and generate ideas about how to better approach casting in the future.
“I would like a conversation over how it was done, why it was done and how we can do it better,” Beckham said. “I think raising awareness of domestic violence is very important. But when it comes to issues like race, we need to be careful that we aren’t silencing other voices.”
Beckham said it is not yet clear whether the production of this year’s show will be interrupted.
The play is scheduled for Feb. 19.
Since announcing their intention to employ an all-minority cast last October, the producers and directors of the production have been showered with criticism from students and community members who argue that the policy runs contrary to the movement’s goal of female solidarity and empowerment.
The monologues are part of the V-Day College Campaign, an international political movement that works to stop violence against women. The V-Day organization, which owns the rights to the play, requires that campus organizers adhere to various stipulations concerning the production of the monologues.
For example, the show must be open to all women regardless of race, and no men are allowed on-stage during a performance of the monologues.
Additionally, because the production is also registered as a student organization with MSA, organizers must comply with the University’s state-mandated policy of nondiscrimination, which prohibits exclusion based on race.
The production dodged the controversy last month by casting women who are white, but “identify” with other colors. For example, one cast member identifies herself as “pink.”
“At auditions, we experienced white women identifying themselves as ‘women of color,’ ” co-director Molly Raynor told The Michigan Daily last month. “Instead, some are white women who identify themselves with various colors.”
Beckham’s accusations addressed the production as a whole and did not name an individual producer, director or executive, Harrington said.
Because he spent last semester abroad – when debate and discussion over the casting policy began – co-director Whitehead said Beckham might be misinformed about the organizers’ goal to have an all-minority cast.
“As far as I know, (Beckham) has never attempted to become involved or come to us, and I am assuming he is basing (the complaint) on what he has heard from other people,” Whitehead said.
Beckham claims that he understands the issue well enough, despite his absence from campus last semester.
“My being out of the country had nothing to do with the decisions that were made,” Beckham said. “I’m not ignorant to the facts, but the situation remains unchanged. It is a question of whether the decisions were proper in the first place.”