St. John’s Says No To Vagina Monologues, Yes To Ludacris

By: Rizoh

      After refusing to allow a Valentine’s Day staging of the play "The Vagina Monologues," St. John’s University has allowed Ludacris—whom the editor-in-chief of the university’s newspaper called "famously misogynist"—to perform at the school’s second annual "Just Press Play" music festival. The two-day event is to take place April 20-21 on St. John’s Jamaica campus, and Ludacris was to be the headlining act Saturday.
      The St. John’s student newspaper The Torch called it "hypocrisy" that Ludacris-known for songs such as "Ho," "Freaky Thangs" and "P-Poppin’" and lyrics about "violent sexual promiscuity"-would be allowed to perform just months after the school denied permission to a student group seeking to put on "The Vagina Monologues" to raise awareness of domestic violence.
      The Torch reported that Ludacris would be required by his contract to play the tamer, sanitized radio versions of his songs and that the school reserved the right to pull the plug on the performance or reduce or refuse the artist’s fee-reportedly $85,000-if he disobeyed.