For the sixth year in a row, the University of Southern Indiana will host V-Day USI, a benefit production of Eve Ensler’s award-winning play The Vagina Monologues.

V‑Day USI is a local effort within the worldwide context of the 2012 V-Day Campaign and will be staged at 7 p.m. Thursday, February 23, in Forum II and at 7 p.m. Friday, February 24, in Forum I. Both rooms are located in the Forum Wing of the Wright Administration Building. Doors will open at 6:30 p.m. each night.

Tickets, $7, will be available at the door.

This year’s cast includes new and returning performers including USI employees Lauren Anderson, Alice Shen, Mary Lyn Stoll, Izze TenBrook, and Melinda York.  Student performers include Elizabeth Beam, Ari Beedie, Sarayah Blackburn, Jessica Durkin, Alexandra Levine, Andi Linberg, Skye Simons, and Aurelia Vanderkolk. The cast also includes an alumna of USI and The Vagina Monologues, Becca Pitzer. 

V-Day USI is sponsored by USI’s Philosophy Club, Face of Feminism, Psychology Club, Gender Studies, Human, Environmental, and Animal Rights (HEAR), Spectrum, and Male Allies Against Rape and Violence (MAARV).  

“The more money we raise to help victims of sexual and domestic abuse, the more successful the event will be,” said Dr. Mary Lyn Stoll, assistant professor of philosophy and Philosophy Club advisor. “More seats filled means that not only will more people get to enjoy Ensler’s work, but more women will be able to get the help they need after experiencing violence.” 

Ninety percent of proceeds will benefit Albion Fellows Bacon Center, and 10 percent will benefit the V-day Spotlight Campaign to help the women of Haiti, who are still dealing with sexual violence and hardship in the aftermath of Haiti’s devastating earthquake. 

To learn more about V‑Day USI contact Stoll at mlstoll@usi.edu. To learn more about V‑Day and its campaigns visit www.vday.org.