Sixteen students watched in awe as their classroom projector displayed the image of Eve Ensler traveling the globe in search of women who needed her help. Her mission was to empower them – to teach each woman to love herself for who she is.

“V-Day: Until the Violence Stops” is a documentary that follows Ensler’s V-Day program, a cause inspired by her 1996 play “The Vagina Monologues.” V-Day is a movement seeking to stop violence against women and girls on the global level.

The film affected two students in particular, freshmen Kelley Pettus and Jenna Craig, who stayed after their Issues of Social Justice class to ask their professor where they could rent a copy of “V-Day” and left with the motivation to bring “The Vagina Monologues” to St. Edward’s University.

“I wanted this performance to happen at St. Edward’s because every girl on this campus, especially at our age, needs to come to know herself, accept herself and love herself in spite of the society that tells her that she can’t or shouldn’t,” Pettus said.

After finding their inspiration to perform this play, the two students began preparing the steps necessary to hold an on-campus event. The first item on their list was setting up a meeting with Student Life, which was, at the time, busy smoothing out the details for the following week’s Homecoming celebration.

March 2 was the first opening Student Life had to offer, and the girls took it. Meeting then meant they had less than two weeks to prepare their proposition.

Pettus and Craig met with Marisa Lacey, assistant director of organizational development and advisor to the Student Government Association. However, Student Life ultimately said it could not support a production of “The Vagina Monologues.”

“When we proposed the idea to Student Life, the immediate answer was no,” Pettus said.

Instead of setting up dates and details, the three discussed why “The Vagina Monologues” wasn’t going to get Student Life’s approval.

“(Student Life) said that several groups, including Women Empowerment, had attempted to put on a production in the past and had always been rejected,” Craig said. “A few years back, a group from Notre Dame performed ‘The Vagina Monologues,’ and there was a lot of backlash from local clergy and the community. St. Edward’s does not want to attract that sort of negativity from the community.”

Pettus and Craig then went to Dean of the School of Humanities Fr. Louis Brusatti. He gave them his permission to perform “The Vagina Monologues” on campus as a project for their Issues in Social Justice class, rather than as an event sponsored by a university-wide program.

“The play has stirred up controversy around the country,” Brusatti said. “A number of Catholic universities have not performed it in any official way because it ‘objectifies’ a body part…I have seen ‘The Vagina Monologues’ and was moved by it. I did not think that it was an objectification of the vagina; rather, it presented a feminist metaphor in a very powerful manner. If students come away appreciating the issue of violence against women, it will be worth the effort.”

“The Vagina Monologues” has several detailed rules, all of which are stated on the play’s website, and anyone looking to host this event must follow these rules closely. For example, the performance must take place during a specific time of the year (aptly named V-Season), and at least 10 percent of the profits must be donated to Ensler’s V-Day program.

One of the rules also requires that the entire performance be read from a script that the V-Day program provides. No improvisation or memorization is allowed.

“While the rules are strict, Jenna and I are following all of them to a T, as well as the rules laid down by St. Edward’s,” Pettus said. “The rules are not an obstacle. They’re the channel for us to accomplish something greater.”

Craig and Pettus want this performance to encourage girls on campus to love themselves. They also hope that attendees learn about the importance of equality on and off campus.

“Overall, I want girls to love themselves and feel inspired,” Pettus said. “I want girls to be able to live their lives without the fear of violence, without the fear of being raped. I want girls to feel as beautiful and powerful as they truly are. I want self-love on the St. Edward’s campus.”

Their production will be held in Jones Auditorium Thursday, March 24. Ticket sales will begin at 7 p.m., and the show starts at 7:45 p.m. There is no set price for the tickets, but there will be a suggested donation amount.