Fourteen open mic performances allowed students and V-Week participants to showcase their talents Thursday Night at the L.A. Pittenger Student Center Talley.
This was the first time an open mic night has taken place for Vagina-Friendly Week, said Susan Atkinson, the event coordinator who has hosted four other events this week.
"We just want to highlight our student body," Atkinson said.
She said the V-Day campaign is about raising awareness and giving students a chance to tell the stories that are never told.
Sophomore Nate Logan was the first poet of the night to perform and read a satirical poem called "Debbie does Darwin" about women and the media.
"I wanted to give a positive image to women as well as use the opportunity to read my poetry," Logan said. "It's about how women should be seen as smart and intelligent, and not how they are often depicted."
Layla Zandi, who graduated from Ball State last May, used the event to convey a personal monologue about her own sexual assault experience several years ago.
"It was my way to express my anger and pain without personally harming the person who did it," Zandi said.
Senior Rhiannon Cizon, who is on the Vagina Monologues committee, performed a monologue in her underwear called "Fashion Forecast."
"For me it's an opportunity to show you can be a woman of sophistication and self-respect and still perform in your underwear," Cizon said.
Several other performers came out to read poetry, sing and play guitar. Sophomore Cody Pagels came out to the event to support the cause and to perform his first stand-up comedy routine.
"I support the cause a hundred percent because there are a lot of people close to me who have either been victims or had their lives affected by other people being victims," Pagels said. "V-Week is a great thing, but it's not something we should only think about once a year. It should be something we are consistently aware of and fighting against all the time."
Performers at Open Mic Night were given a Ball jar to collect money from the audience for their individual performances. Winners were selected according to which jars collected the most money, and prizes included gift certificates from Lucky Rabbit, Dragon Slayer and Wizards Keep.
"It's a way for us to get a little more money toward the campaign, as well as to reward our performers for being willing to come out here and be part of our V-Week," Atkinson said.
Free cookies were provided for the Open Mic Night event, and V-Day T-shirts, bracelets, and Vagina Monologue tickets were sold throughout the night. The $2 cover charge for the event, as well as all proceeds, will benefit A Better Way and the V-Day campaign. V-Week will continue through Sunday, and information about the specific events can be found on display tables in the Atrium.
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