“I’m excited about this year. They are a fun group of women; all with strong personalities,” states Jessica Green of the Rape Crisis Center (RCC) of Coastal Horizons.

The Vagina Monologues will be produced by the Women’s Studies and Resource Center (WSRC) this year with a total of 25 participants and many more volunteers who helped put the program together. It will consist of a series of short narratives, core monologues, and a spotlight monologue focusing on one person in particular. These stories will provide insight into the anger, humor, and passion-filled lives of women.

This program has been run for 10 years to help promote V-Day. V-Day is a non-profit organization that aims to raise awareness and end all violence against women and girls. Ten percent of the proceeds from the production located on campus will benefit the V-Day movement in Haiti, the Congo, and New Orleans, and 90 percent of proceeds will benefit the RCC.

“This is year is different because we usually split the proceeds between two beneficiaries, but the Rape Crisis Center is the sole beneficiary,” comments Green.

The RCC provides confident 24/7 hospital response, counseling, and support groups for sexual assault victims. Visit their website at www.coastalhorizons.org for more information regarding their mission and services.

“There is a spin on the presentation because it will happen during intercultural week. This will allow us to focus on the international impact of V-Day and give a better impact to the audience,” comments Michelle Scantton-Tessier, director of the WSRC.

The WSRC is working in accordance with the Women’s Studies Student Association (WSSA), and the men from the One in Four program of the CARE office to host the Vagina Monologues. Much like the V-Day movement, the WSRC “provides students, faculty, staff and those in the . . . Wilmington community with opportunities to experience the diverse facets of women’s lives,” according to the WSRC website at www.uncw.edu/wsrc.

“I’m happy to have the One in Four program involved because sexual violence isn’t just a women’s issue, it’s a men’s issue too,” declares Lauren Habig, a participant in and producer of the program.

The One in Four program’s mission is “to reach out to other college men to talk about what they can do to help prevent rape from occurring,” according to the One in Four website. The One in Four program is affiliated with the CARE office located in DePaolo Hall; visit their website at www.uncw.edu/oneinfour to find out more information.

The Vagina Monologues presentation is not the only program that the WSRC promotes to bring awareness to women’s violence. The WSRC hosts numerous workshops like the Smart Start program which is held in the fall and is meant to help women on campus to become better negotiators. The next workshop will be held at the end of February; the Elect Her program will be held to aid women with more skills and confidence to successfully run for the Student Government Association.

The Vagina Monologues will be presented Thursday, Feb. 16 at 7 pm and Sunday, Feb. 19 at 2 pm in Lumina Theater. Tickets are $10 for the general public and $5 for students. They will be available for purchase at Sharky’s Box Office, Fisher Student Union, and through etix.com.