While some Pomona students may be looking forward to Valentine’s Day because it’s the one night a year that their significant other takes them out to one of the nicer restaurants in the Village instead of to the Coop Fountain, Joanna Edie ’03 has a different appreciation for that day. Edie has been chosen as the Director of the Claremont Colleges V-Week Activities.

V-Week is a weeklong dedication to raising awareness of violence against all women. This year, Edie plans to have one activity on each of five consecutive days. On Monday, February 12, Edie is helping to organize an art show at Pitzer. She asked the 5-College community to respond and contribute art or poetry that dealt with issues of violence against women.

Tuesday night, there will be a speaker from the sexual crisis hotline, Project Sister, to speak about the issues surrounding date rape. This discussion will be held at Claremont McKenna, and will be followed with a discussion. Edie stated her hope that a talk like this will "help raise an informed campus consciousness" about date rape.

One of the highlights of V-Week is the V-Day, which takes place on February 14. This day was inspired by the first V-Day in 1998, in which Glenn Close, Whoopi Goldberg, Susan Sarandon, Lily Tomlin, and Calista Flockhart all performed in an off-Broadway performance of Eve Ensler’s Obie Award-winning play The Vagina Monologues. The performance was the perfect medium through which to raise awareness of the countless acts of violence committed against women, and the revenue generated from the play went to organizations that try to fight the violence.

The critical and popular praise of Ensler’s play centering on issues of women’s sexual and self-empowerment inspired the foundation of the V-Day College Initiative. On Valentine’s Day of 1999 and 2000, hundreds of schools all around the world have interested students direct and star in a rendition of The Vagina Monologues. This year, Pomona is participating in V-Day again by performing the play again, this time directed by Dru Hilty ’02. All proceeds from the play are being donated to local non-profit organizations, Project Sister and House of Ruth.

On Wednesday night, there will be a self-defense workshop offered at Harvey Mudd. This class is designed to give women a sense of confidence, as well as the necessary skills to defend themselves if they ever encounter situations where violence is attempted on them.

The week wraps up on Friday night with a celebration concert at the Motley coffeehouse on the Scripps Campus, with Rockwell Church performing. After the show is over, there will be a wrap-up discussion about the feelings and thoughts people had during the V-Week events. "Most importantly, I hope there is a discussion about what people learned from V-Week," said Edie. 5-College organizations have also been invited to contribute their thoughts.

When asked how Pomona students could contribute to taking a stand against violence to women, Edie had no shortage of ideas. "It could start on a small scale. For example, look around at the community we live in. Be aware of your friends and relatives, and if you suspect that any of them might be an abuser, you need to say something."

Edie also had plenty of other practical self-protection tips, such as always keeping your eye on your drink when you are at a party or club, in order to prevent anyone from slipping "date rape drugs" in them. She also stressed that it’s important to have self-protection skills.

If someone wanted to do work for the larger good, Edie suggested getting involved with any local non-profit organizations such as Project Sister and House of Ruth.

She also emphasized the importance of becoming informed about issues of domestic abuse and rape, and to tell other people what you’ve learned. Violence against women can’t be stopped until women stop being silenced due to embarrassment or fear.

So this Valentine’s Day, instead of going out on a date or just hanging around with your friends, go support V-Week by watching The Vagina Monologues. The five dollar admission charge will mean a lot to a woman who is looking for help to escape a violent situation.